A Different Life
by Yami Gir
Summary: Astral is a girl and has a mission; To save her world and the Earth, but to do so she will need the help of a young boy named Yuma and something called the numbers. But being an alien in an alien world is hard for everyone. Things to know: people can see Astral, Astral is connected to the key but not like in the the anime.
1. Awaking

**A/N Hello there, and welcome to my first story. A little info. about this story is I came up with this while camping with a friend because I was bored. So yeah, I hope you like it and just as a reminder, Astral is a girl it not an OC of mine.**

* * *

'Your name is Astral, and you will save our world and the Earth.'

_/But how?/_

'With the help of the numbers and a young boy.'

_/But how will I know who it is?/_

'He will show himself to you, and you will know.'

_/That doesn't help me! Please give me a name, anything that will help me with my mission!/_

'Yuma.'

* * *

A young alien, whose appearance resembles that of a human girl, wakes up in a fright.

"What? Who was that?" She pants. Looking at her surrounding, she finds herself in what appears to be a space ship. She also notices that she is wearing no clothes. She puts a hand up to her face as if she is trying to remember something.

"My name is Astral and I am here to save my world and the Earth with the help of a boy named Yuma." She tells herself, trying to remember every detail. A draft blows through the ship.

"Ah, that's cold!" Astral exclaims as she tries to block out the cold by covering her exposed body with her arms, but it doesn't make a damn bit of difference. Deciding that sitting on the floor won't help her find where she is, Astral gets up and walks around, looking for anything that will help her figure out where she is. She walks to the front of the ship and finds what could only be the control room, because of the multitude of computers and control panels.

"This is probably the best place to start looking." Astral says out loud, her voice echoing through the hollow ship. She shivers, not from the cold but from the empty feeling that comes with being in a big place alone. At the front of the room there is a large monitor which is likely the main computer. She starts clicking what feels like random buttons, but soon realize that she is turning on the computer system; the computer buzzes to life and shows alien letters.

"Computer, what is my location?" Astral questions the computer and a map of the Earth shows up. The map then enlarges a certain point on the map. The computer finally stops zooming in when a large city becomes visible. The city is huge with many skyscrapers and a giant heart sits in the middle of the city.

"Heart Land." Astral reads out loud.

"Well at least that question is answered." Another draft blows though the ship.

"Ah! Computer I need clothes." Astral tells the computer as she wraps her arms around her petite frame tightly. The computer ends its search and the screen goes red.

'Insufficient data' it read.

"Damn it!" Astral exclaims as she bangs her fist on the control panel. That's when she got an idea.

"Computer, collect information on the female of this planet. Anything will do as long as it gives me what I need to live in this new world." Astral then left the control room to see what other information the ship had to offer her.

* * *

An hour later Astral walked back to the control room to see if the ship's computers had found her anything that was useful, but to her disappointment, the computer had found only tidbits of trivial information.

"I guess the only thing I can do is wait." Astral said as she sat in a chair in the middle of the room and crossed her arms and legs. Not knowing that she had fallen asleep, the next thing Astral heard was the hum of the computer as it brought a human into the control room.

"I guess the computer finished its search." She yawned.

"What's going on?" A small voice said. Astral got out of the chair and walked to where the voice was coming from. There, she saw what was probably a female inhabitant from the planet. The female had green hair that was pulled into a orderly ball of hair on the left side of her head and tied off with a red colored piece of thin cloth. She also had on what was probably a uniform of some sort , judging by the the simple and modest design. Astral was so content on getting a mental photograph of what the girl looked like, she completely forgot that she had kidnapped her. The girl was getting annoyed that she was being stared at. The fact that the thing staring at her looked like a naked woman was not sitting well with her, either.

"Hello? Alien woman I'm still alive, here." She said as she snapped her fingers in front of Astral's face. Astral stepped back, not sure what to say, but decides that simply apologizing would probably help her situation.

"I'm sorry that my computers brought you here, they were only supposed to collect data, not a specimen." Astral says. The girl gives her a weird look, but it disappears when she figures out Astral is trying to apologize to her.

"Um, it's okay, I guess. But why do you need to collect data and why I was collected along with it?" She asks.

"I'll tell you, but first I will introduce myself. I am Astral." Astral greets the girl and puts her hand out for her to take.

"Hello Astral, my names Kotori and can you answer my question now?" Kotori says impatiently, yet still takes Astral's hand and is brought to her feet.

"Hello Kotori, and, yes I am physically able to answer your question. Have you already forgotten that we can communicate?"

"No," Kotori retorted, "I just-will you answer my question or not?"

"Gladly. The reason you were brought here is because I am trying to gather information on the female of this planet."

"But why? Are you trying to take over the human race or destroy the earth or something?"

"No, but if my memory serves me correctly, I need to save the Earth."

"For what? Earth isn't in any danger and the world has been at peace for many years now." Kotori questioned Astral. Why should she believe her? She kidnapped her and now says that she's here to protect the Earth. Why would she believe that when it sounded like something out of a bad 80's sci-fi movie?

"I've noticed that the world is not in trouble as of this moment, but that could change in an instant, right? And if I was truly some evil being like you're thinking of, wouldn't I have locked you up or something like that?" Astral commented with a raised eyebrow.

"Wait you can read my thoughts?"

"No, you were talking to yourself just loud enough that I could hear you."

"Oh. So I can trust you?"

"Yes."

"So, you need information on human girls?"

"That is correct."

"I guess since I'm here I can help you. So, what exactly do you want to know?" Kotori offered. Astral started thinking. 'What do I need to know from her?' Astral got an idea. She got down to Kotori's level and asked her,

"I want to know anything that will help me blend in with your people." Astral said with a hopeful look in her eyes.

"I guess I can help you. You look like you wouldn't do any harm, but you put me in a hard place trying to tell you all about our race." Kotori said. What could go wrong? Just then another draft blew through the ship. Kotori, who was wearing a loose black sweater, pulled it closer to her body to try and conserve her body heat. She then noticed that Astral was shivering, probably because she had nothing on. Kotori looked at the sweater she is wearing and takes it off. Astral looks at her with a quizzical expression.

"Here, put this on." Kotori said as she hands the sweater to Astral, who took it from her hands and put it on her shoulders.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Now, come with me and tell me everything you know." Astral said as she started toward another room.

* * *

"I see. Your world is very complicated, as is your species." Astral comments as she types the information she learned onto the screen in front of her.

"Yeah," Kotori sighed, "I guess that's a good way to put it, so, can I go home, now? It's getting late and my family will start freaking out if I'm not home by 9 pm." Kotori said as she looked at her watch. She sighed. She had been stuck here for over 5 hours answering questions to some amnesic alien the whole time. Well at least her parents shouldn't be too worried, she had told them that she was shopping with some friends. Kotori sighed again. What a waste of an afternoon. Astral finished typing and got up from her seat.

"You are physically unable to leave this ship without my assistance." Astral replied.

"What?!" Kotori was fuming. "What do you mean I can't leave-"

"You can't, without my assistance-"

"What's that mean!?"

"Do you know how to operate this ship, Kotori?"

Kotori calmed down and thought about what Astral had just said. "Oh, I guess you're right, Astral. So, can I go now?"

"Kotori, I already told you that you cannot leave with-"

"I already know that." Kotori sighed. "Astral?"

"Yes?"

"I remember now, may I go home now?"

"Yes you may go. Thank you for all this information. I am happy the computers found you, but I am still very sorry that they...'kidnapped' you, as you call it."

"No, no, it's just fine." Kotori said with a friendly smile. "It's not everyday you get abducted by an alien." She said with a nervous laugh.

"Here we are. Computer, systems ready. Oh I guess you want this, um, sweater back." Astral said as she started to pull her arms out of the sleeves.

"No, you keep it, you need it more than me. You said it yourself: it will be a while before you get clothes based off of what I told you, so keep it, it's fine. It's what friends do, right?"

"We're friends?"

"Yes, I've spent several hours with you and you are kind, you're not like I thought you'd be, you're not evil."

"Thank you, Kotori. I have one thing to tell you before you leave thought."

"What is that Astral?"

"I'm sorry." Astral said as she put her hand up to Kotori's face. She fell to the floor, out before she could respond to Astral's comment.

"Computer, download and file everything this girl has in her memories." Astral said as she looks down at the unconscious girl with a frown.

"I'm sorry, Kotori." Is all Astral says as she leaves the room so the computers can do their job.

* * *

**So that's the first chapter do you like it? I hope so. But I won't know unless you review so I hope you do. I will try to post new chapters every week maybe sooner if I get some reviews. (Redone 7-12-13)**


	2. What a Dream

**A/N Welcome to the 2nd chapter of A Different Life. Now I know I said I would update weekly and its only been 3 days but whatever. I decided that I will update every weekend between Friday night and Sunday and I will try to keep to this scheduled. I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

It took several hours for Astral's computers to download and file all of Kotori's memories. Astral only knew this because of the watch Kotori was wearing and from the setting and rising of the planets star. As Astral watched the computers do their work, all she could do is think about what she had done.

"When she was telling me about her race she talked about something called friendship, and from what information I gathered about it, I learned that these humans caress each other, hold hands, hold one another close, and there is mutual trust." Astral looks down at the girl, frowning. "She called me her friend. It meant she trusted me and I broke that trust by stealing her memories." The computers then beeped, signaling their job was done. Astral looked at the watch on Kotori's wrist. Its hands were on the 4, and even though Astral didn't know how time worked on earth, she knew that Kotori had been stuck here for a long time.

'I guess Kotori's parents will be worried about her for being gone for such a long time.' Astral randomly thought as she looked out a window to see the Sun slowly rising. A computer screen then pops up in front of Astral's face with different commands on it. As she was about to hit the erase button, a strange feeling ran through her heart. 'What is this feeling?' Astral thought and then a new idea was conceived in her head.

"Computer, play back the last 5 hours that she was conscious." The computer then started to play what looked like a movie. It showed what Astral guessed was Kotori's school because she'd said that she had finished classes before Astral had taken her on to the ship. That was when she saw the moment the ship had transferred her to where she was now. Astral selected that moment all the way to where she had knocked Kotori out and pressed the 'Block' button.

"Kotori, I am not deleting these memories because you said we were friends." Astral said with a soft smile on her face.

"But I will block these memories because I don't need my mission told to the people of this world. I might unblock them if we do meet each other again." She pressed the button and the process started.

The next time Astral checked Kotori's watch, it was on the 6 and the sun had almost completely risen in the sky. Astral yawned out of boredom. She didn't think that blocking this girl's memories would take this long.

"Now, how do I get you home without being noticed?" That's when Astral thought of something.

"Computer, show me where this girl lives." And a house showed up on the main screen.

"I guess that's her, um, house. I could just drop her off in front of it and leave." Astral pondered. It was probably for the best.

* * *

_**Breaking News**_

The girl that was suspected of being kidnapped 2 nights ago was found in her front yard by her parents this morning around 6:30 am. There are no witnesses on her being kidnapped or brought to her house. The parents have not given much detail on how she is but it's been heard that she has been in a coma-like state since she was found.

* * *

'Yuma, your destiny is waiting beyond this door, but to gain this destiny you must give up your most precious item.'

_/My most precious item? Does that mean my key?/_

'You must make your decision. NOW! You must choose or the world will fall into chaos!'

_/But what can I do?/_

'You're needed Yuma.'

_/I guess I have no choice. KATTOBINGU!/_

'You have chosen your destiny. The messenger must find you now.'

_/Messenger? Who is that? How will I know who it is?/_

'The messenger will show them self when the time is right.'

_/But I still don't who it is!/_

'Astral'

The ground begins eroding away and Yuma falls into the dark abyss below.

* * *

"AHH!" There is a thud, and Yuma screams as he falls out of his hammock. He rubs his sore back as he stands up.

"That's the fourth time this week that I had this dream, only this time the door said I actually opened my destiny. Weird." A grandfather clock strikes 7 from somewhere in the house. 'I'm actually up early for once? Well at least I won't get yelled at for oversleeping today!' Yuma thought as he started to change into his school uniform. When he got his school supplies together, he walked down into the living room where his sister was working.

"Looks who's up on time for once." His sister said as she typed something on the computer.

"Whatever." Yuma huffed as he walked into the kitchen for breakfast.

"Oh Yuma, read today's news, yet? There's an article about your friend." His sister called from the living room."Yeah, I'm actually writing one about her today since you know her."

"Kari, you're only writing about Kotori because this is the first kidnapping in the history of Heart Land." Yuma said as he read the article. Turns out that she was left on her front lawn less than an hour ago, man how did these reporters get to know these things so fast?!

"Yuma, maybe you can visit her after school." Kari offered as she stopped her typing to drink her coffee.

"Yeah, that would be nice, but they might not let me in and she might not even be awake." Yuma told his sister. He knew she only suggested that so he could be her little reporter dog and get info. no one else could get.

"Yeah, that is true, but if you can get in and she is awake, take some notes for me, okay?" Kari said, doing exactly what Yuma thought she would do.

Yuma sighed. "Sure, whatever, I'll get you your stupid story. I'm leaving so, bye." Yuma sighed as he walked through the kitchen.

'Wow someone's moody.' Thought Kari as she continued her research.

As Yuma walked out of the kitchen and out the back door he is stopped by his grandma.

"Good morning, Yuma, aren't you up early this morning? Did you have trouble sleeping?" His grandma asked as she stopped her sweeping.

"Yeah. I guess you could call it that." Yuma said with a nervous laugh. He tried walking passed his grandma but she stopped him again.

"Are you sure, Yuma? This is so unlike you. Is it because your friend went missing? I bet that's it. The poor girl, to think everyone thought Heart Land was so safe, but I guess even the safest places have evils hidden within them." Grandma went on. Slowly, Yuma started to walk towards the front gate. Just as he was about to leave he is stopped once more.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Um, to school?"

"Yes but don't forget your lunch again." Yuma promptly applied his palm directly to his forehead. Even though he was early today, he still forgot his lunch!

"Right, lunch, thanks for the reminder Grandma." He said as he walked back towards the door to get his meal.

"No need to go back inside, Yuma. I have a lunch right here for you."

"Thanks Grandma! See you after school!" Yuma said, waving, as he set off for school.

On his way to school all Yuma could think about was his dream. 'What did that door mean when it said I had chosen my destiny, and who is this Astral messenger person I have to work with? All I have is a name and though it's not a common name it still doesn't help any.' Yuma thought as he fiddled with his key, absent-mindedly.

"At least I didn't lose you." He said holding the key up in the sunlight, sighing.

"I just don't get it. First it says it's my destiny, then it says I chose my own destiny. Then there's also the fact that I was supposed to lose something precious to me, but I still have it with me. Maybe I have gone insane." Yuma says as he arrives on the school grounds.

"Well, I am early, I might as well wait for Tetsuo to arrive." He says as he sits on a bench.

* * *

"So you're saying Kotori was kidnapped." The large boy, walking beside Yuma asks.

"Yeah, I mean it was in the news. What, were you too lazy to read it Tetsuo?" Yuma laughs as he teases his friend.

"Well I'm sorry I wasn't up early like you today. Speaking of which, why were you up early today? You've been known to sleep until its 5 minutes till the start of class." Tetsuo questioned. It was very unusual for Yuma to be early to school and everyone knew that.

"Oh it's nothing. I just couldn't sleep well, that's all. I'm fine, just up earlier than usual. No big deal." Yuma reassured him. With that, the morning bell rang and everyone sat down in their seats. The teacher walked in and everyone rises, bows, then sits back down.

"Good morning, class." Says Mr. Kay. The entire class greets him with enthusiasm.

"Now, I know we have all been worried about our fellow classmate, Kotori, but those worries are no more, now that she has been found," Mr. Kay says and there are nods of agreement from throughout the room.

"Now before I begin today's lesson I would like you to meet someone." He then turns to the door, where someone is standing. That someone is a girl with blue hair that rises up in a type of mohawk, like fire, with very pale, almost white skin, dressed in the normal school uniform with a loose black sweater she has gathered at the sleeves that she is holding on to tightly. Another noteworthy trait was how she wore her stockings- most girls only wore them up to their knees, but she had hers all the way up to the hem of her skirt. She finished walking, halting at the teacher's side and looks at the class. Another different thing about her was that her left eye was gold, while her right was silver, and wore silver, dangling earrings.

"This, class, is the new student who will be joining us. Would you be so kind as to introduce yourself to the class?" Mr. Kay asks.

"Of course, Mr. Kay," she says in a soft voice, "My name is Astral. Astral Takokujin and it is nice to make all of your acquaintances." Astral says with a bow. The moment Yuma heard her name he was positivity sure he was insane.

* * *

**A/N And that's it for now. And a few things to know:**

**1) Astral had Kotori on her ship for two nights not one.**

**2) Takokujin is Japanese for extraterrestrial. I tried to be somewhat original but if I should change it tell me.**

**3) The story will probably be slow tell chapter 4 so just sit tight. Yami Gir signing off. (Redone 7-12-13)**


	3. It's a Start

**A/N Hello again! Chapter #3 is here! Okay so I have comments that said I need to work on my grammar and punctuation and that is very true so I found myself an editor to help me with those things. THANKS Tsuki-domo! So yeah chapter 3, it will be like chapter 2 but it's Astral side of the story.**

* * *

Astral was lucky, because when she dropped Kotori off at her house, the computers had finished making her clothes. As she put them on, Astral kept thinking about Kotori and the things she had told her about humans.

(_FLASHBACK_)

"So, Kotori, these clothes you are wearing, they're some sort of uniform, right?" Astral asked as she had her computers scan Kotori. The one nice thing about her was she didn't mind the computers hovering over her and capturing images of what she wore.

"Yes, Astral, this is a uniform. I have to wear it to school and the only reason I still have it on is because you abducted me before I could change out of it." Kotori answered as another scanner went by her face.

"And what exactly is this 'school' you're talking about?" Astral inquired.

"It's a place where you learn about things. Why? Are you planning on going?" Kotori questioned. 'That would be weird, an alien going to school.' She thought as she giggled at the idea of something like Astral attending a human school. 'Well, it couldn't be that bad.'

"What are you laughing at?"

"Oh, nothing, just a silly thought."

"Okay then. So this 'school' place you're talking about, you say they teach you things. What kind of things?" Astral asked. This could be very helpful to her.

"Well, things like math, science and history, but one thing that's different about my school is we are taught something called Duel Monsters." Kotori said with excitement in her voice. Even though she wasn't into Duel Monsters like her friends, she still found it amazing that a school's curriculum could be based off of a children's card game.

"Duel Monsters," Astral said slowly. The words sounded very familiar. "What exactly is it?" Astral said as she rested her chin on her hand.

"Well, in this game, you play with these cards. You have monsters, spells, and trap cards that you use to fight your opponent. Oh, here, this is what they look like." Kotori said as she pulled a card out of her pocket. It was Gagaga Girl, Astral looked at the card intently.

"So you fight people with these cards? That sounds, um, boring. I believe you once used that term." Astral commented as she continued to look at the card. Even though the game seemed futile, it seemed very familiar to her.

"Sometimes, yes, but you use this thing called a D-gazer and the monsters come to life!" She said as she took her D-gazer out of her other pocket. Just as she did a scanner moves in front of her and takes a picture of it.

"Real monsters? That doesn't sound boring to me." Astral said surprised.

"Well, they're not alive. They aren't living, breathing creatures, but holograms. Here, see for yourself." She said as she walks to a nearby window and pressed a button, lifting the metal shutters. Astral followed suit and stood beside her, gazing at the city beyond the glass along with Kotori.

"Here, put this over your left eye and look down." Kotori instructed as she handed Astral the device. She put it on and looked at the city below.

"Oh my!" Astral gasped as she looked at the ground below. She witnessed many sites, among them dragons flying through the sky to warriors fighting each other in the streets. Astral couldn't believe her eyes. There were monsters fighting great battles down there. It was what Kotori once said, "amazing".

"See, isn't it cool?" Kotori said as Astral looked at the ground in amazement.

"Uh-hu." She nodded as she continued to look below. She then took the D-gazer off and gave it back to Kotori.

"Thank you, that was a pleasant and exhilarating experience." Astral smiled. Kotori smiled back, it made her happy that things so simple to her were, through Astral's eyes, the greatest things to have ever happened. Astral sat back down and a computer screen was in her face.

"So, what is needed to get into this school of yours?" Astral questioned as she started typing again.

(_END OF FLASHBACK_)

Astral looked over her notes that she had taken while Kotori was conscious. She mentions something called 'makeup' which she could use to cover up the markings on her face and any other places that her cloths didn't cover. Luckily, her computer made something that seemed to fit its description. She put it on her face and noticed that it covered up her teal markings and made her skin very pale. She applied the concoction to her arms, hands, and legs where her stockings didn't cover them. Astral then began collecting the necessary paperwork to enroll in Kotori's school. Kotori had also showed Astral something called "the internet", which helped her forge the documents that she needed.

Astral arrived at the school long before anyone else had shown up. She had to walk through an alley that was further away from the school so she wouldn't attract any attention to herself. Despite this, she managed to arrive on campus before anyone else. As she walked into the school building, Astral remembers a map that she had seen on the internet and made her way to the main office. As she walks in the room she notices a woman sitting at a desk, using a computer.

"Um, excuse me ma'am?" Astral say quietly.

"Huh? Oh, what is it, dear?" The lady says when she shifts her gaze from the computer to Astral.

"I'm a new student here and I came to turn in the paperwork necessary to enroll." Says Astral as she put the paper she was carrying on the desk.

"Okay, let me see," the lady says as she starts to rifle through the many papers, "Miss Astral Takokujin. That an interesting name, isn't it?"

"My parents were from America but had Japanese relatives." Astral said quickly so she wouldn't sound too suspicious.

"Interesting, all seems to check out but one thing."

"What is that ma'am?"

"Sweaters aren't part of the dress code here, Miss Astral."

"Um, I have birthmarks on both of my arms and I don't like it when people ask me about them." Astral said with a light blush on her face, trying to convince the secretary. It seemed to work, because the woman behind the desk gave her a look of sympathy.

"Okay, you can wear it today, but tomorrow you must have a note from your parents explaining why you need to wear it in the building."

"Thank you, ma'am." Astral said with a bow.

"Okay, your papers have been put in the system and you'll get your schedule in a minute. Please sit down for a moment, you'll be ready for classes soon." The lady said as she got up and walked into a different room. Just then another teacher walks in.

"Hey, Asami where should I put my student reports for this week?" The teacher says.

"Just put them on my desk and I will file them when I'm done here." The lady called Asami calls from a back room.

"Oh! Mr. Kay don't leave I need you for a moment." She calls as she trundles back into the room with some papers in hand.

"What is it?"

"This is a new student. Astral Takokujin and she will be in your class." Asami says and gestures toward Astral.

"Hello, Astral, I'm Mr. Kay." He then put his hand out to shake hers.

"Hello Mr. Kay." Astral says as she shakes his hand.

"Here you are, Astral, this is your schedule and some papers for your parents. Have a good day." Asami said as she went back to her computer.

"Okay, the bell's about to ring, and when it does, you walk into class when I motion for you and you can introduce yourself. Sound goods?"

"Yes Mr. Kay." Astral said as they arrived at the room. The bell rang and Mr. Kay walked in.

"Good morning class." Everyone greeted him warmly.

"Now, I know we have been worried about our missing classmate, Kotori," at this point, Astral stops listening to him. Kotori. Is he referring to the same girl whose mind she scanned for information, the girl she had just left at her house just this morning? It must be! Astral had a weird feeling go through her just like when she rendered Kotori unconscious. What was this feeling? A sadness that made her want to run away and never think of it again. Astral was so deep in thought that she almost missed her cue from Mr. Kay.

"Now, before I begin today's lesson, there is someone I would like you to meet." Mr. Kay said as he turned towards Astral. She then snapped out of her thoughts and walked into the room. When she was at the teachers side, she turned to face her new classmates.

"This is your newest classmate, she'll be joining us for the rest of the year. Would you be so kind as to introduce yourself to the class?" Mr. Kay asks.

"Of course, Mr. Kay." Astral says softly, "My name is Astral. Astral Takokujin and it is nice to make all of your acquaintance." She says with a bow.

"Okay. Astral, since we have a missing student, you can take her spot until I can find you a place. Yuma, please raise your hand," A boy with red eyes, black hair, and dark pink, spiky bangs raises his hand slowly. "You will sit next to Yuma, Astral. Now, let class begin." He says as a hologram shows up on the screen in front of the room. All Astral can do is think of the boy she has to sit by. 'Yuma...Yuma..his name is Yuma. Could it be him?' Astral sits down next to him and takes out what she needs to start class, and she can't help but notice that this boy, Yuma, she's sitting next to won't stop staring at her.

* * *

**A/N Well now things will start get a little interesting. Oh and a side note I will be re-posting the first 2 chapters after they have been edited my editor. See you next week! Yami Gir signing off.**


	4. Show off

**A/N Chapter 4 is a go! Hello again, I happy it's finally Friday! A new chapter and the start of the weekend. So this is the chapter that started the story strangely enough but I'm excited to have it up. Oh and how about we play a little game called 'Spot the Reference' for some idiotic laughs. There are 3 in total, 2 from an abridged series and one from a Minecraft parody. So enjoy reading. XP (Warning: Contains one-sided Unawareshipping, Astral x Shark)**

* * *

Yuma couldn't believe his eyes. The new girl, Astral, was sitting right beside him. Was it an eXtreme coincidence that he had a dream about how he needed someone named Astral to help him with his destiny and now a girl name Astral was sitting right beside him? Or could it be that he was still asleep and this was merely one long dream. 'I mean, really,' he thought,' I have never been early for school in my life.' He pinched his arm, wincing at the pain he felt immediately after. 'I guess this is all real.' Yuma sighed. He decided to leave it and pay attention, not noticing that Astral had been watching him.

'What is this human?' She thought as she watched him pinch himself. She then turned to watch the teacher, following his example.

'I will have to keep an eye on this boy.' She thought as she started to listen to Mr. Kay.

Astral had gym class with Yuma, but she couldn't participate because she didn't know she needed different cloths for this class. Yuma watched the new girl as she sat off to the side during gym. 'Must have forgotten her gym clothes.' He thought as he met up with Tetsuo.

"Hey, Yuma I bet you can't jump over 20 of the blocks." Tetsuo said as he slapped his hand against the side of the tower.

"Tetsuo, I'll take any challenge you give me!" Yuma said with confidence.

"KATTOBINGU!" Yuma shouted as he ran towards the tower. He jumped and a thunderous crash rang out through the gym, the whole tower fell down as Yuma ran into it. The entire class started laughing at him, while Astral stared at him in disbelief. Could this really be the boy who was supposed to help her save two worlds? She got up and walked towards Yuma and the fallen tower, kneeling down beside him.

"Are you okay?" She asked moving a block off of him. He doesn't answer. Tetsuo came up behind Astral.

"He'll be fine, he does things like this every day." He reassured her.

"Alright, then." She said as she walked back to the benches. Tetsuo smirked. 'Looks likes Yuma has an admirer.' He thought as he shook Yuma back into consciousness.

"Come on Yuma, you know that you can't sleep during gym class." Tetsuo teased as Yuma started to wake up.

"Huh, what happened?" Yuma asked as he rubbed his head.

"You crashed into the tower, again."

"Aw, again!?"

"Yep, though this time something came out of it, making you look like and idiot, that is." Tetsuo said with a sly grin. This was perfect: Yuma always tries to impress people, so why not give the new girl a hint as to what he was like.

"What do you mean, Tetsuo?" He asked excited.

"Well, the new girl can over here while you were blacked out, she looked pretty worried, too." Tetsuo said as he pointed to were Astral was sitting. She seemed to be more interested in a group of kids playing basketball than what Yuma and Tetsuo were doing.

Astral observed a group of kids playing a game.

"What is this game where you must keep an orange ball away from the other player and try to get it through a net?" She said quietly as she observed the game.

"What, Astral?"

"Is that her name?"

"Well, yeah."

"Then Astral was over here, and if I didn't know any better, I'd say she has a thing for you Yuma." Tetsuo said with a grin. Yuma was actually falling for it! He actually thought Astral liked him and he was going to use that to his advantage.

"Do you really think so, Tetsuo? I mean, she sits by me in class and all she does is take notes, even if we don't have to and she hasn't said a word to me."

"What, are you worried that she'll reject you? C'mon, Yuma, you have to try."

"Yeah you're right, I at least have to try." Yuma stood up. "Yeah, why should I be afraid of this girl? I'm gonna to get her to notice me! KATTOBINGU!" Yuma shouted as he thrust his fist into the air.

* * *

The next class was swimming and, once again, Astral couldn't join because she didn't have the proper attire, but she was fine with that because she knew it would be hard to explain the markings on her arms and legs. Yuma also thought this was as good as any place to show off to Astral. He climbed up on the highest diving board and looked down below. Gathered at the edge of the pool was most of the class including, Astral, who Tetsuo had called from the sidelines to watch Yuma make his 'Grand Dive'. Yuma smiled.

"This is for you Astral!" He shouted as he jumped off the edge.

"KATTOBINGU!" He said as he fell into the water.

Astral looked at Yuma as he stood on a board high above the water. She still couldn't understand the reason humans have made such things, like the board Yuma was currently standing on. He looked down and stared directly at her. He then shouted, "This is for you Astral!" and jumped off the board. Astral barely saw what happened but the next thing she heard was the splashing of water.

"AHH!" Astral screamed, as she was drenched in water. She covered her face with her hands and noticed that she could see her blue skin coming through the makeup on her hands. She ran past the kids that had gathered around the pool and ran into the girls' locker room. She looked at herself in the mirror and gasped. Places where the water had gotten where now exposing her blue skin and markings. She graded a nearby towel and wiped her face dry then looked back into mirror. Her face was now light blue and her markings were fully visible.

"Oh what have I done, it's only my first day here and my disguise has already been destroyed. Damn you, Yuma!" Astral cursed quietly as she took her borrowed sweater off and started to ring the water out of it. Astral was close to crying when she noticed there was something in the pocket of it. Astral pulled it out and found that it was makeup. She smiled. Oh what luck that this was in her pocket. She opened it and started to put it on. 'Oh, Kotori, even though you may not have known it, you have saved my identity.' Astral thought as she looked in the mirror. It wasn't quite like what had been made in her ship, but it would do for the day. She now knew that she had to be careful around Yuma.

Yuma reemerges from the water only to hear the shout of a girl coming from the edge of the pool. He turned to see Astral hiding her face behind her hands. Yuma flushed, 'Was she the one who screamed?', 'Is she crying?' were the thoughts that ran through his head. He swam over to the ladder and got out of the pool only to be surrounded by the same people who were watching him moments ago.

"Great job, Yuma, you got the new girl upset."

"Should someone check on her?"

"Nah, just leave her be. She probably wants to be alone."

"I think she's crying. I guess she didn't like getting wet."

"Ha-ha, that's what she said."

"Grow up Ted, we're being serious." Yuma hung his head in shame. How could he have done that to her? All he wanted to do was make her notice him. Tetsuo comes up and slaps a hand on Yuma's shoulder.

"Good job, buddy. She'll definitely notice you now." Tetsuo said sarcastically trying to hold back his laughter.

"Lay off." He said, slapping his friend's hand away. "I'm done swimming today. I'll see you at lunch." Yuma said as he sauntered towards the locker room.

When lunchtime came around, Yuma went looking for Astral. All he wanted to do was say he was sorry for getting her wet, but after a few minutes of searching, he gave up and sat by Tetsuo.

"Look I'm sorry man. I didn't know she didn't like water. It was all supposed to be a joke, just for shits and giggles, you know?" Tetsuo apologized. He really did mean it. It was meant, solely, to make Yuma look like a fool but ended up making a girl, who nobody knew very well, upset.

"Whatever." Yuma said, as he pulled out his lunch. They sat in silence as they ate. Yuma kept looking through the crowd to see if he could find Astral. As he finished eating, he noticed someone standing in the hallway. It was Astral! He ran over to her before she could walk away.

"Hey, Astral, don't go, I need to say something to you." Yuma panted as he caught up with her. She turned around to face him, but didn't look too pleased to see him.

"What is it you want?" She said harshly. He could tell she was still upset. Her hair was still wet, as well as her cloths and she also looked paler, like she was cold, she also had a blue tint to her skin.

"Um, well, I wanted to say I was sorry for what I did. I didn't mean to get you wet and make you cry." Yuma said quickly. Astral stopped glaring at Yuma when she heard his apology.

"That's okay, and you didn't make me cry. It was just the cold water." She reassured him.

"Yeah, but your still wet and you look really cold." Yuma stated as he grabbed Astral's arm.

"I'm serious, Yuma, I just fine."

"Alright, hey, how come you weren't in the lunchroom? Not hungry?"

"No, I didn't feel like eating anything and I don't have any money." Astral sighed. At least most of that wasn't a lie. She really didn't have money, but she knew she didn't have to eat, however Yuma didn't need to know that.

"Okay, then. Hey, since you're new, ya want me to show you around?" He asked. Maybe he could still get to know her.

"Sure, that would be nice." Astral agreed as they started walking through the school.

* * *

"And this is this the Duel Arena." Yuma pointed out as they walked into a place where other students were facing each other. Astral and Yuma both took out their D-gazers and put them on. All around there were monsters fighting each other. Astral gasped. Even though Kotori had shown her before, it wasn't in such a small place, all at once. Yuma noticed her expression.

"What? Never seen a duel before?"

"Just never in such a small place." Astral said as she continued to observed the battles in front of her.

"Hey, Yuma, want to duel?" Tetsuo calls from across the room.

"You know I do!" Yuma said with confidence as he walked up to Tetsuo.

"Hey, maybe your friend would like to watch." He said when he saw Astral walk up with Yuma.

"Sure, why not?"

"Because you'll probably lose like always." Tetsuo replied.

"'I'll never win if I don't try." Yuma stated as he got his duel disk out.

"Duel!" They both said in unison, thus beginning the duel.

The game was over in 3 turns. Yuma barely touched Tetsuo's life points as he wiped the floor with him. Astral couldn't believe her eyes. This boy definitely wasn't the one she was supposed to be with. He only had to have the same name, right?

"I told you, Yuma: You just can't beat me." Tetsuo laughed at Yuma's defeat.

"Well, I just have to kattobingu and someday I will." Yuma stated as he lifted himself off the ground.

"Yeah, Yuma, if you just keep doing that, then you definitely will win." Tetsuo said sarcastically.

"Hey, Yuma, what is this kattobingu of yours." Astral questioned as she walked over to him.

"Well it's what my dad always told me. He said that anything was reachable if you try hard enough. And that is what kattobingu is, or at least to me." Yuma explained. Then the school bell rang.

"Woo, school is over. Hey, Astral, would you like to, oh, I don't know, walk together a little." Yuma offered.

"Sure, that would be nice." She accepted.

* * *

"So you're new to Heart Land?"

"Yes, that is true."

"And you lived in America, too?"

"That is also true." Yuma and Astral had been walking for 10 minutes trying to make small talk when Yuma's D-gazer rang.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Yuma, are you going to the hospital to check on Kotori?" Kari asked from the other end.

"Yes, Kari, I was just about to." Yuma sighed. 'I guess I can't get out of this.' He thought. Astral listened carefully to their conversation.

"Um, Yuma, I have to go. My, um, parents don't want me out too long." Astral said as she turned around and walked away.

"Um, okay. Bye Astral, see you tomorrow. Yes, Kari, I'm less than a block from the hospital right now. So I'll call you when I'm done. Alright, bye." Yuma said as he walked toward the hospital. He walked in the front door and went to the front desk.

"Um, hello, I would like to see my friend Kotori Mizuki, the girl who was kidnapped." Yuma said the lady at the front desk.

"Oh, sorry, we aren't allowing any guests in right now."

"Oh, okay then. Can you at least tell her Yuma was here?"

"Sure, I'll make sure to tell her when she wakes up." The lady reassured him. Yuma walked out the front door and turned around to face the building. He gripped his key.

"Kotori, I swear on this key that I will find whoever did this to you and make them pay. You hear me!" Yuma shouts at the sky. When he receives no answer he turns his back on the hospital and walks home.

* * *

As soon as Astral was out of Yuma's sight, she took off running. She kept thinking about Kotori and kept getting a strange feeling.

"Stop it. Stop it, Astral. These things will get in the way of your true mission." She kept on repeating to herself. Astral was so deep in thought she did not notice the shadows in the alley she had walked into. As she was about to beam up to her ship, Astral had a hand clamp down on her mouth. Before she could think, she was surrounded by people wearing the same uniform as Yuma.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? A little wallflower in a dark alley." Said the person standing in the middle of the group. Even though he was wearing the same uniform as Yuma, it was green, not red. His purple colored hair seemed to resemble an octopus.

"Hey! Bring me that fine piece of ass." Both of Astral's arms were grabbed by two of octopus hair's cronies, while they practically dragged her to their master. "Alright. You guys leave, I want our little wallflower all to myself now." He said with a sly grin. There were groans of protest, but soon Astral and the unknown man were the only two left in the alley.

"Alright, you may speak now," He said, removing his hand from her mouth, "but if you scream I'll make you regret it." He said, tightening his grip on her arms and pushing her against a wall. She groaned. The pressure on her arms increased and she could tell there would be marks later.

"Who are you?" Astral questioned. The man brings his mouth close to her ear and asks back, "Maybe if you tell me your name first, I'll tell you mine." He said, his hot breath tickling her ear. He gripped her arms even harder, causing her to squirm.

"Astral!" She gasped, her arms losing all feeling. The man was pressing his body against hers.

"Astral, that's a different name, but I guess you are pretty unique. It's decided, you are my new girlfriend." He breathed into her ear as he pulled at the hem of her skirt.

"W-what are you doing!?" Astral said, shocked at the man's actions towards her. He then began to run his hand up her thigh and she gasped.

"Don't do that!" Astral cried out in surprise. She knew very little about humans and what they did to each other, but this didn't feel right to her.

"Oh. I see, you don't have anything on underneath." He smirked, "Maybe you're not the quiet little girl I thought you were. Not that I care." He said as he continued to rub her thighs.

"Just stop." Astral gasped out. All she wanted was for this torture to stop.

"But this is what boyfriends and girlfriends do." He said as he turned her head toward his and pushed his lips onto hers. When he removed his lips from Astral's, she gasped for breath. He then removed his hands from her arms and thighs and started to take her sweater off.

"Please stop this, I don't like it." Astral said softly, trying to cover up her shaking voice.

"I guess I should wait, but remember this:" he said as he tossed her to the ground. "You're my girlfriend now, and if I see you with anyone else I will kick both of your asses." He said as he sauntered away.

"Wait! I still don't know who you are." Astral called back as she lifted herself off the ground.

"Oh that's right, you will call me Shark." He laughed as he walked away from his new toy.

'What was that just now?' Astral wondered as she kneeled on the ground. When she saw that Shark was gone, she slowly stood up. She looked at her hands and saw they were shaking profusely. She gazed into a domain, painted in brilliant oranges, pinks, purples, reds, and yellows, known as the sky.

"Computer, bring me up to the main deck." She commanded, and soon enough she found herself in the security and comfort of her ship. When she stepped into the ship, she collapsed on the ground and started gasping for breath.

"What was he going to do to me?" Astral pondered quietly.

"I must do research, whatever he did and intended to do to me..." She shuddered. "I don't want it to happen again." She stated as she was then surrounded by computers.

* * *

**A/N Now call me sadistic, perverted, or just screwed up in the head but the last scene is that started this. I also had a little to much fun pushing the line that separates the Teen rating and the M rating but hey that's how I roll. So did you spot the references? I hope you did and if you think you got them all PM me or something because I'm curious if you did. Well I'm done talking, see you next week! Yami Gir signing out!**


	5. Paranoia

**A/N Hello readers! I'm back with the next chapter. So I just want to say I really happy about the outcome of last weeks chapter. It was my most viewed chapter to date. WOO HOO, Personal Gain! I'm really happy can you not tell? Well I better stop talking before I lose any of you, so enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Astral awoke the next morning to the sound of her computers screaming. She turned to look and saw that her computers were flashing the time: 7:50 am. She jumped out of her seat. 7:50 am, that meant she had only 10 minutes to run to school. Astral quickly got her school clothes and makeup on. She winced as she pulled her sweater on. Her arms had dark purple spots from where Shark had grabbed her, but ignored them as she put the rest of her papers and gym clothes in a bag. She looked at her computers. 7:55 am.

"Crap, crap, crap. Computer, beam me down near the school!" Astral shouted at the computer as she was beamed down into an alley a block away from the school. She started running as she heard the first bell ring.

"Excuse me, pardon me, sorry." Astral said as she pushed through a crowd of people. As she got to the school grounds she stopped to catch her breath.

"Hey, watch out!" Someone shouted as they collided with Astral.

"My papers. Watch where you're going, you fool!" She shouted as she scrambled to gather the papers.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he turns to hand the papers to her, "I'm sorry, Astral?" Yuma said as he looked at her.

"It's okay." She said as she got up and started speed walking.

"What are you doing here, Astral?" Yuma questioned as he caught up with her. 'Man she's fast.' He thought, having to jog to keep up with her.

"I'm going to school, you imbecile. I overslept. So, may I ask, why you are here?"

"I overslept too, except that's normal for me." Yuma said as they arrived in the classroom. Just then the bell rung.

"Ah, Miss Takokujin and Mr. Tsukumo. I'm happy to see that neither of you are late, but that's to be expected of you, Yuma, but I hoped you wouldn't follow his example, Astral." Mr. Kay said as he walked in behind Yuma.

"Sorry, Mr. Kay." They said together as they bowed.

"Alright, go to your seats." Mr. Kay said as he began the lesson. Astral and Yuma walked to their seats in the back of the room. When the teacher started speaking, Yuma looked over to Astral and noticed that her hands were a dark color and scratched, as though she was pushed on the ground.

As the class continued, Astral found it hard to concentrate on the teacher. At first, she took notes on what the subject matter, but at some point, she noticed that she was actually writing what plagued her mind. She then felt someone tap on her shoulder. It was Yuma.

"Astral, you okay?" Yuma whispered so he wouldn't be heard by the teacher. Astral appeared to be trembling while she wrote in her notebook. He began reading, over her shoulder, what she had written, things such as: 'He touched me.', 'I still have marks on my arms were he held me.', 'I don't know what would have happened if he didn't stop.' Yuma shuddered as he read. 'Either she is writing some pretty hard core fan fiction or something happened last night.' Yuma thought as continued to listen to the teacher.

* * *

"Hey, Astral want to play some basketball?" Yuma called as she walked out of the locker room. Astral decided that even though she didn't know what this basketball, he spoke of, was she should try it.

"Okay, now that we have equal teams let's play." Yuma said. Astral walked onto his side of the court.

"Wait, what?" Astral said as a ball was thrown up in the air. The others started to grab for it while Astral stood at the edge of the court, trying to make sense of just what the fuck was going on.

"Astral, catch!" A voice from the group called as the ball was thrown in her direction.

"What?" She said as she caught the ball. Then other kids started to run at her, and not knowing what else to do, she started toward the net.

"Personal Foul." Someone called. Astral stopped running because she figured that it was meant for her.

"Astral, have you never play basketball before?" Yuma asked as he walked towards her. She shook her head.

"You should have told me, then." He said as he took the ball from her hands. She winced from the pain shooting through her arms.

"Sorry, Yuma I was going to say something but the game had already started."

"It's fine. If you want to watch, just say something, but we're going to continue the game so you can sit on the sidelines." He said as he turned to face the other players.

"Okay, everyone, we're down a player, anyone against that?" No one said anything. "Okay, then, let's continue." He threw the ball into the court.

Astral watched from the sidelines, but slowly attention was fading. She kept staring at her hands. When Yuma took the ball from her, it opened one of the cuts that Shark had given her when he threw her on the ground. She trembled at the thought of him. After she had gotten to her ship last night, Astral had spent most of the night going through the internet to see what this Shank guy was talking about. At first, she tried looking up his name, but all she found were what appeared to be aquatic creatures of this planet. Does he have an obsession with marine life, I wonder? What she found was nothing like what he had done to her, but then she found an article that described events in which a man forced himself on his woman and Astral noticed that what Shark did to her was almost like what the guy in the news did to that woman. She shuttered again, at least last night didn't end like the article. She felt his hands on her legs again. This feeling. This is the same feeling as when he was touching her, as though he was still there. But how could she feel this, even though he wasn't there was still a mystery to her. Yuma noticed Astral shuttering as she sat on the sidelines. He knew something was wrong, even though he barely knew her. He would have to talk to her later when they could be alone.

When lunchtime rolled around, Yuma found Astral and pulled her into a secluded corner of the hallway.

"Yuma, what do you want?" Astral asked, surprised by his actions.

"Astral, even though you I've only known each other for a day, I can tell something's seriously wrong with you."

"What are you suggesting?" Astral questioned.

"What?"

"What did you mean?"

"I thought you had something on your mind, why?"

"Oh. I thought you were suggesting that I had issues."

"...Issues?"

"Yes." Astral said. "Like I was crazy or something."

"What, no, no! That's totally not what I meant. Did something happen, Astral?" Yuma said, as he grabbed her arm where it was badly bruised. She hissed in pain and he quickly removed his hand.

"Sorry 'bout that, but that proves my point. I barely touched you, yet you seem to be in pain." He said, talking quietly. "Even though you might hate me for this, I saw what you were writing in your notebook and there are only two reasons you would write such things. Either you write some really hardcore fan fiction or about your personal life. And you don't look like you're into fan fiction." Yuma said quickly. Astral looked at him in a weird way. She couldn't make sense of what he was saying, but she took out her notebook to see if that was what he meant.

"Are you talking about this?" She said as she held it in front of her.

"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. So why were you writing such things?" Yuma said, worriedly. Astral thought about what Shark said the night before and she shuttered.

"It was nothing Yuma, just leave me alone. I have to deal with it myself." She said as she turned around and walked away.

"Astral, please just wait."

"No, Yuma, don't follow me. You will have nothing to do with me!" She shouted back as she ran around a corner. Yuma didn't chase her after, she had said not to.

"What did I do wrong?" Yuma said as he hit his head against the wall 'I was just trying to help. Maybe I should leave her alone for now. I just hope she'll still talk to me.' Yuma thought as he walked back into the cafeteria, but unbeknownst to him, someone had been watching his and Astral's conversation from behind the window of a nearby classroom.

"That little slut still has a boyfriend, even though I forbade to. Well, I'm going to make him pay." A dark voice said with a chuckle, as a figure walked out of the room it'd been hiding in.

* * *

**A/N Well, that was a short chapter, sadly. But it couldn't be helped only because if I would combine this chapter and the next chapter it would be really, really long. So I stopped with a little suspense, because it's needed sometimes. So hope you liked this chapter and don't want to kill me for lacking action but I'll tell you now the next 2 chapters should probably make up for that. Who knows I might post another chapter sooner if it gets edited soon enough. 'Yami Gir you talk to much!' Yeah I do, so bye! Yami Gir signing off! (P.S. I've been getting this question a lot, so just to know new chapters are posted weekly between Friday night and Sunday night depending on my weekend.)**


	6. MEDICAL ATTENTION, STAT!

**A/N Sorry for the long wait, my editor was in Florida for a week, came back for a day, then went to New York for a week. Sorry for neglecting the schedule. So Tsuki-domo -(my editor) got carried away with the jokes/references. BTW, this is Tsuki! HAHA! I've invaded you, Yami!...successfully...**

* * *

For the rest of the day, Astral avoided Yuma at all costs, and vice versa. When the school bell rang, Yuma went to Tetsuo's locker to see if he wanted to duel, but he wasn't there.

"What, is everyone avoiding me now?!" Yuma complained as he walked off campus, while secretly being followed by Astral. As he left the school grounds, he noticed a duel in progress on a bridge and that Tetsuo was involved. He took out his D-gazer to see how the duel was going and saw that his friend's opponent already had and Xyz monster on the field. Though Yuma did not know who his friend's opponent was, Astral knew right away.

"Yuma!" Astral shouted as she ran up to him.

"Please, don't go towards that duel!" She pleaded as she latched herself onto his arm.

"But why? It looks good. I mean, Tetsuo's opponent already has an Xyz monster on the field." Yuma said, as he dragged her with him to see the end of the duel.

"Now, Aero Shark, attack him directly." Tetsuo's opponent said with an evil laugh, as Aero Shark obeyed his master and attacked Tetsuo. He fell backwards from the force of the attack and landed on the ground as his life points reach zero.

"Aaaaaah! Right in the life points!" Tetsuo screamed. "And how'd that even knock me back, anyway, it's a FUCKING HOLOGRAM, DAMNIT!" Shark chuckled and sashayed toward his fallen opponent.

"I'll be taking those." The purple-haired boy said as he snatched Tetsuo's cards from his duel disk.

"Hey! What are you doing with Tetsuo's cards, you jerk?" Yuma called as he reached the field. Shark didn't seem to care about Yuma though, he seemed more concerned about who was still latched onto his arm.

"Astral, you dirty whore! What are you doing with him?" He said as he pointed an accusing finger at Astral, who let go of Yuma's arm.

"No, Shark, it's not like that." Astral tried to explain. She didn't like the thought of what Shark would do to her, but what he could do to others scared her more.

"Shark? Wait, Astral, do you know him?"

"Of course she knows me, she's my girlfriend." Shark said as he pulled Astral away from Yuma and forced his lips onto hers. Astral started to struggle against Shark, but found her attempts fruitless as she quickly ran out of oxygen. Shark finally stopped when he noticed Astral's attempts to stop him had ceased.

"Hey, stop that! She doesn't like it!" Yuma said as he tried to distract Shark so Astral could break free, but also because he felt really jealous of Shark for kissing her.

"Oh yeah, and how do you know what she likes and doesn't like?" Shark said as he started to pull at the hem of Astral's skirt. Yuma looked at her and saw that she barely fought back and thought maybe she did like it, but then he remembered how hard she'd struggled when he had kissed her.

"I just know she doesn't like what you're doing." Yuma said, his jealousy started to grow as he watched Shark tug harder on Astral's skirt, as if he was going to rip it off.

"Really, you think so? Cuz you're a little bitch! Well I think you're just jealous of the fact that she might like this." And as he said that, he put his hand up Astral's skirt and started pulling down her panties.

"STOP IT!" Astral screamed as she slapped Shark across the face. Her face was red from embarrassment and Shark had a hand-shaped red mark on his left cheek from where she had struck him, and then there was Yuma, who was still wondering what had just happen in the last 10 seconds. Shark quickly got over his shock and grabbed Astral by her wrist.

"You're lucky, you little bitch, that I have enough self control NOT to fuck you where you stand." Shark hissed through clenched teeth. He then hoisted Astral onto his shoulder.

"ONE-SHOULDERED THROW!" He proclaimed as Astral was hurtled towards the ground.

Yuma cried out, "SHARK, YOU SADISTIC BASTARD!"

Unfortunately, Shark was in such a blind fury that he didn't stop. Astral lay on the ground, shrouded in dust as Shark stood over her.

"Baka, baka, baka!" Yuma sang frantically as he tried to wake her but nothing worked.

"How dare you Shark. She did nothing to you and you hurt her. What do you have to say for yourself." Yuma said enraged.

"The little bitch had it coming for her." Shark said as he turned away.

"Shark, I challenge you to a duel!" Yuma pointed to him. Shark turned around quickly when he heard the word duel. (Yeah, FUCK THE GIRL WHO'S UNCONSCIOUS!)

"A duel, you say, and what will be on the line, then?"

"My deck, Tetsuo's deck and Astral." Yuma said as he pointed to Shark.

"Sounds wonderful to me." Shark said in a fake cheerful tone.

"I accept. So, where should this duel take place."

"In front of the shopping center."

"Great, not only do I get to show my girlfriend what a wimp her second boyfriend is, I also get two decks along with it." Shark said in a dark voice. "See you tomorrow, Yuma."

Yuma ran to Astral's aid. She was unconscious and barely breathing.

"Astral, please wake up!" He said as he tried to shake her awake.

"Yuma, stop." Tetsuo said as he walked up behind him.

"Tetsuo, what happened? Why did you duel him?" Yuma questioned.

"He forced me to. He said that if I was such a great duelist I could beat him, and he made me put my deck on the line so I could 'prove my point'." He said sarcastically.

"Though I don't know how he knew about me. He just came up after school and started taunting me."

"I see and then I came over here and Astral got hurt." Yuma said close to tears. "I should have listened to her."

"Yuma, get a hold of yourself, crying won't help anything. So how about we do the smart thing and call an ambulance so Astral can receive MEDICAL ATTENTION." Tetsuo said trying to calm his friend.

"You're right, thank you." Yuma said as he put his D-gazer back in his pocket.

"It's fine and I already called for an ambulance, so we don't have to wait much longer."

3 minutes later an ambulance came, just like Tetsuo said it would and carried Astral away. Police were also on the scene, because of what Shark had happen counted as sexual abuse and they asked Yuma some questions.

"So, tell me everything that happened here." The officer ordered Yuma as he got out his notebook.

"Well, I was leaving the school grounds and saw there was a duel going on between my friend and another guy, so I went to watch. When I was about half way there, Astral came up behind me and told me not to go there, but I didn't listen and kept walking. Well, she had her arms wrapped around me to try and stop me, so in a way, I dragged her with me. When I was finally close enough to see what was going on, my friend lost the duel and the guy in question took his deck. So I told him to stop, but he only seemed to notice Astral, who was still hanging off my arm. He then started to yell at her and called her things like 'whore' and 'slut' because she was with me. He grabbed her from my side and started kissing her, even though she was struggling against him, so I told him to stop, which he finally did, but he then started to pull on her skirt like he was going to pull it down. I kept telling him to stop, but he said I was just jealous and that she liked it, despite me telling him that she didn't. I'm not too sure what happened next, but it looked like he put his hand up her skirt and she finally screamed for him to stop and she slapped him pretty hard across the face. He grabbed her wrists said that she was lucky he had enough self control that he wasn't fucking her where she stood and then swung her over his shoulder, yelled something about a one-shouldered throw and threw her to the ground hard." Yuma talked quickly, his anger rising as he told his story to the officer.

"Calm down son, now did this guy ever say his name?"

"Yeah, she called him Shark."

"Shark? Do you know if this is his real name or some street name?"

"I don't know sir."

"Okay and the girl, how do you know her."

"She's new, and I've only known her since yesterday, but she sits by me in class and I'm the only person she seems to talk to." Yuma said as he thought about everything that had happen over the past day.

"Okay, we'll try to make contact with her parents and you," the officer said as he pulled a card out of his pocket and handed it to Yuma, "Take this and call that number if you see this Shark guy again. You got that?" The officer said to Yuma in a stern voice. Yuma nodded his head, signifying that he understood. He was going to tell the police guy about his duel tomorrow but decided against it. The police and ambulance left and Tetsuo and Yuma started home.

"Tetsuo, why did you dual Shark." Yuma suddenly asked.

"Well I actually did it for you, Yuma." He admitted.

**_Flashback_**

"Hey, fatso." Shark calls from across the hallway.

"Who're you callin' fatso?" Tetsuo says as he slams his locker shut.

"You, now tell me something: do you know a Yuma Tsukumo?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Because, that bastard is trying to steal my girlfriend."

"Yuma doesn't have a girlfriend."

"Well, he's still talking to mine. So I challenge you to a duel."

"A duel?! What for?"

"Because, anyone who knows that bastard must pay."

"Stop calling Yuma a bastard and if its a dual you want, it's a duel you'll get."

"Perfect and how about we make this interesting."

"How so?"

"We both bet our decks and if I win, I get yours, but if you win you get mine."

_**End of Flashback**_

"Really, for me?" Yuma said happy about what his friend did for him.

"Hey, don't get mushy with me, you have a duel tomorrow."

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks for the encouragement, Tetsuo." Yuma said as he ran for his house to work on his deck.

"Yeah, you're gonna to need it." Tetsuo said quietly as he walked towards his house.

* * *

**A/N TSUKI'S BACK! AND I'M BA-A-A-A-A-A-A-AAAAAD! hehe...sorry, not much else to say, except whoever caught and got all the references you're SUPER SPECIAL AWESOME! And because Yami's a forceful evil master, I must put in here that the next chapter will be out Sunday. Now we gotta go...get whipped cream...for...um...sexual FOREPLAY! Or maybe just snacks...Tsu-Tsu say Bye-Bye!**


	7. It's Time To D-d-d--d-d-d-duel!

**A/N Well it's Sunday and like I promised here is the new chapter. Thank your for your patience these past couple of weeks and I will once again try to keep my scheduled. Enjoy reading and just to prevent confusion, Astral's "soul" is separated from her body while she is in the orb/sphere and yes, it's canon.**

* * *

_'Astral, wake up.'_

Astral opened her eyes to find that she is back in her ship, but when she tries to move, she finds that she's in some type of sphere.

"Computer, what is going on?" She questioned the screen in front of her. It started up and began playing the last couple of hours. It showed her failed attempt at basketball, the conversation with Yuma during lunch and finally her confrontation with Shark. She shivered at the at memory and then realized she wasn't wearing her school uniform, actually, she wasn't wearing anything at all. She looked at her hand and noticed she could see through it. 'What is this?' she thought.

"Computer, where am I right now?" The computer screen showed her laying in a bed in some unknown room. Just then, a lady came into the room and started rooting through things in Astral's bedside table. She then started talking to herself.

"Computer, raise the volume."

"Poor child, so young and she's already a victim of sexual abuse. How sad." The lady said, as she wrote down what was on the computer screens located beside Astral's bed.

"Hey, you can't go in there!" A voice from outside shouted.

"I'll be gone in a minute, I just need to see Astral." A familiar voice called back as someone runs in the room.

"Yuma!" She gasped when he entered the room.

"You can't be in here." The nurse told Yuma off.

"Please, just give me a minute and then I'll leave." He pleaded with the nurse.

"Fine. You have one minute."

"Thank you, um and will you leave so I can be alone?" Yuma said turning red. The nurse raised a quizzical eyebrow, but then saw how he was blushing. She smiled.

"Of course. Young love, it's so cute sometimes." She said as she left the room. Yuma walked over to Astral's bedside and kneeled on the floor.

"Oh, Astral, I'm so sorry you are like this." He said. She watched from her ship as Yuma as took her hand in his.

"What is this?" She said in amazement when she felt his hand in hers, even though he wasn't there.

"I'm sorry I took you over to Shark even though you tried to stop me." He continued as he stroked her hand. "But I'll make it up to you and defeat Shark. I'll make him pay for what he did." He finished as he dropped her hand gently back on the bed. Yuma then started to take something off his neck.

"Here, wear this." He said as he put the Emperor's key around her neck. "A key is something you use to unlock things but it can also be used to lock things. You have unlocked my feelings towards you and I want to lock them together with you and this will symbolize that." Yuma said as he leaned down and kissed her cheek. Astral felt this and could feel her face heat up.

"What is this sensation?" She said as she touched her cheek were Yuma's lips had grazed it. "I must find out." She said as another computer began glowing.

The nurse who had been in the room before Yuma walked in clapping her hands slowly.

"Oh, that was so beautiful! I could not have payed to see a moment like that." She said as tears came to her eyes as she awed at the beauty of the moment. Yuma gave the nurse a weird look until he understood what she meant. His face then became a dark shade of red and the nurse chuckled softly.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Your moment will be kept secret." The nurse reassured with a wink.

"Thank you, ma'am." Yuma said with a smile as he left the room.

"Oh youth and their love." She said as she continued to watch Astral. "You are a very lucky girl." She said as she left the room.

* * *

"Alright, Shark, lets start this duel." Yuma said as he took his duel disk out.

"Of course." Shark said smugly.

"Duel disk: Set! D-gazer: Set! DUEL!" They said in unison as the virtual world materialized around them.

"Go, Yuma!" Tetsuo cheered for his friend.

"I'll go first," Yuma stated "Draw." He added a card to his hand and started thinking. 'Crap I barely know how to use any of these cards.' He thought as he looked over his hand.

"I play Zubaba Knight in attack mode."

"Ha! You're a fool for playing such a weak monster in attack mode. My turn! Now, I summon Big Jaws in attack mode."

* * *

_'A duel of the numbers has begun. Astral, your destiny awaits.'_

Astral awoke from her nap.

"I must have fallen asleep after Yuma left." She said to no one as she rubbed her eyes. In front of her a computer was still watching her unconscious body in the hospital, but one thing she noticed was a second screen that showed Yuma.

"What's this?" She said as the screen zoomed out to show more of what was happening. There, on the field, was Yuma, who was down to 2800 LP and Shark who still had 4000 LP.

"Yuma! Let me out! Yuma needs my help!" She yelled as she started to punch the inside of the sphere. She felt something in her hand and opened it to find Yuma's key.

"He gave me this to symbolize the feelings he wants to lock together with me." She whispered as she cupped her hands and closed her eyes. 'Oh, Yuma, I wish I could help.'

_'Astral, you can help. The key he gave you opens a gate. By opening this gate, you will be able to achieve your goal, you may assist Yuma.'_

Astral slowly opened her eyes and saw a giant door sitting in front of her.

"I guess I have no other choice." She lift the key and and pushed it to the lock.

"I'm coming, Yuma!" She called as she was pulled into the swirling vortex of a galaxy.

* * *

"Ma-master Kaito, there has been some sort of interstellar phenomenon in Heart Land." A robot said as he watch the computers.

"Your point, Orbital?" Kaito said annoyed.

"Um..well, should I tell Dr. Faker about the news." Orbital stutter out of fear of his master's annoyance. Kaito looked up at the monitors. Though he was curious, he didn't show it.

"No."

"B-but why?"

"I want you to collect more information before you tell him anything," Kaito commanded as he left the room "and if anything changes, you will tell me."

"Ri-right away, Master Kaito." Orbital said in salute.

* * *

"Hahahaha, you have no chance of beating me!" Shark said as Yuma's life points went down to 2800. "Face it, Yuma you'll never beat me, no matter how hard you try!"

"No! I have to try. I'm not giving up til my life-points run out, especially after what you did to Astral." Shark threw his head back, laughing like a maniac.

"You're hilarious! Why are you even fighting for her, you said yourself that you barely know her. Who knows, maybe this is just an excuse to make her notice you." He smirked at Yuma as his words worked their way into his tiny brain.

"I bet she doesn't even like you. I can even guess what you're thinking. You see yourself winning, running to the hospital arriving in her room gasping out how you won and now she's out of my grasp. Then you confess your love for her, only to have her look you in the eye and say that she doesn't feel the same way. Oh, the humility you'll feel when she yells at you because she was actually put in the hospital because of you!" Shark laughed. Yuma didn't say anything, all he did was stare at Shark.

"You're wrong," Yuma said calmly as he clutched his shirt were his key would usually sit, "yes, I may like her, but even though she may not have the same feelings for me, I know she knows that I am not the reason why she is in the hospital. I will fight you and beat you for her safety and this symbolizes it." He stated as he held a fist up. He then realized that his hand was empty. 'Oh yeah, I gave Astral the key when I was visiting the hospital' He remembered.

"That was so sweet. It makes me sick." Shark snarled.

"Fine I end my turn." He declared. Yuma drew his next card.

"I summon Gagaga Magician and then I equip him with the Spell card Wonder Wand to gain 500 attack points." Yuma said as an armored magician materialized onto the field. A wand appears in front of him, which he grabs, whipping it around.

"Hahahaha!" Shark laughed

"What's so funny?"

"You honestly think you can stop me with those pathetic cards?"

"What do you mean?"

"Trap revealed! Zeus Breaths. This card stops your attack and for every water monster on my field, you take 800 life points in damage and would you look at that, I have one water type on my field so that means you lose 800 life points." Shark said as Yuma was sent flying back from the force of the attack.

"Agh!" He said as he landed on his back then rolled over onto his knees. Yuma kneeled on the ground trying catch his breath. 'How am I going to win? I don't have any skills like him and he might be right about Astral. She might blame me for what happen.' Yuma clenched his fist tightly with all the anger that was building inside him. 'He's right, what happen to her is my fault.' He thought as he got up slowly.

"I for- " Yuma was about to give up when he noticed a burst of light was coming out of his fist.

"Wha-" he opened it to find the key there.

_/Yuma, you better not think of giving up on this duel./_ A voice whispered from behind him.

"Who's there?" Yuma asked only to see Astral float up beside him. She crossed her arms and looked down at him like a parent scolding her child.

_/I hope you weren't actually going to give up./_ Astral said as she hovered close to his face. Yuma was still in shock, not just because the girl he was talking was supposed to be in the hospital or the fact she was floating. No, he was shocked at the fact she was naked. His face turned bright red and he looked away from her.

_/Yuma, Yuma. Oh, Yuma, you can see me, right?/_ She said as she waved a hand in front of his face.

"Yes, I can see you. But what are you doing here?"

_/I don't know./_ She replied as she put her hands at her side, exposing herself even further to him.

"What do you mean you don't know?! Your floating right in front of me!" Yuma shouted as he got off the ground.

"Yuma, who are you talking to?" Tetsuo called from the sidelines.

"What do you mean? It's Astral and she butt naked, how can you not see her!" He shouted.

"Whoa, dude, I don't need to know about your creepy, erotic daydreams! No one is there." Tetsuo called back.

'So am I the only one who can see her like this?' He thought.

_/Yuma, aren't you going continue the duel?/_ She asked, getting Yuma's head back in the game.

"Oh right, I set one trap and end my turn." He said as a card appeared on the field.

"Hey, Yuma you know that both spell and traps can be put face down on the field, right?" Tetsuo shouted from the sidelines.

"Oh yeah, I forgot." Yuma said with a stupid grin on his face. Astral sighed, was he really the person she was supposed to work with?

"Your stupidity know no bonds, Yuma! You could never defeat me, no matter how hard you try. I draw! I bring out Skull Kraken and with his effect, I can destroy any face up spell card, so say goodbye to your Wonder Wand. Next I overlay my level 3 Skull Kraken and Big Jaws to summon No.17, Leviathan Dragon!" Shark cried out as a giant sea dragon arrived on the field.

"A Number, I've never heard of or seen that type card before." Tetsuo said amazed, yet shocked at the same time.

_/A number, finally, it has shown itself./_ Astral said in a slightly amused tone.

"Wait you're excited about this! Why?"

_/Well, I wouldn't say excited but I'm happy. Now, Yuma, if you follow every instruction I give you, we will be able to win./ _

"Whatever Yusei." (You say)

"Now, I use Leviathan's special ability to detach one overlay unit and gain 500 attack points." Shark command as the great dragon reached out and swallowed one of the glowing orbs that was circling around it. "Now, Leviathan Dragon, attack Gagaga Magician!" The dragon attacked and Gagaga shattered to bits.

"I end my turn."

"Okay, draw!" Yuma said as he looked down at his card, it was Gogogo Golem.

_/Perfect. Now, Yuma, put that card in face down defense mode./_ Astral instructed as she leaned over his shoulder.

"Hey! Stop leaning on me! Now, I play Gogogo Golem in attack mode!"

_/Yuma, didn't you hear me?/_

"And I play the spell card Blustering Winds, which increases my golem's attack points by 1000. Say goodbye to your number, Shark." Yuma declared as his golem jumped up and punched No.17, causing a cloud of dust to erupt. Shark life points dropped to 3700.

"Well, so much for your powerful monster!" Yuma taunted as Shark looked at the field, with an evil grin on his face.

"Look again." Shark said as the dust settled with No.17 still on the field.

"What? But...how?" Yuma stuttered as he tried to find the right words. "What the...why wasn't his monster destroyed?!"

_/Because only another number can destroy a number./_

"That's just stupid!"

_/But that's how it works, so you'd better start listening to me./_

"Hahaha! You fool, did you really think that pathetic strategy would work?"

"Well, yeah, actually. But since I can't do anything else, I end my turn."

"Good." Shark said as he drew his next card. "First, I summon Drill Barnacle in attack mode."

_/It looks like we might last this round./_ Astral commented.

"Hey! Be quiet, will you, I'm trying to listen!" Yuma hushed her.

"Next, I activate Leviathan Dragon's special ability: by detaching one overlay unit again, gaining 500 more attack points, which makes Leviathan Dragon's overall attack points 3000! Just enough to take out that golem of yours. Now, No.17, attack Gogogo Golem!" Shark commanded as the dragon shot a beam of energy at Gogogo Golem, knocking Yuma's life points down to 800.

"Then, I use Drill Barnacle to attack you directly." The monster drilled under the ground and appeared right in front of Yuma as he and Astral were tossed into the air. They both landed on their backs. Yuma groaned in pain.

"Ow, that really hurt. Right in the Life Points, Shark!" He said as he rubbed his back and looked over to see how Astral was. She didn't seem hurt, but she was fading in and out like a light before it goes out.

"Whoa, Astral, are you okay? You look like you're fading." Yuma bluntly stated. Astral looked at her hand to find that it was more translucent than before.

_/So this is what a number duel is./_

"What do you mean?"

_/In a number dual, the loser gets his number adsorbed by the winner, so that means that if you lose this duel I will fade from existence./_

"Wow." Yuma said stupidly.

_/Yes, wow. Now, if only you would pay attention to my instructions, then maybe we wouldn't be so low on life points, now would we./_ Astral said as she rose back in the air and put her hands on her hips.

"Wait, are you saying this is all my fault?"

_/Yes, Gogogo Golem has the ability to not get destroyed once per turn if its in defense./_

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that ability." Yuma said as he activated a facepalm.

"Now, Drill Barnacle's effect is activated! That means whenever it has made a successful direct attack, it gains 1000 attack points, which now makes its overall attack points 1300. So, next move, Yuma, you will lose and I end my turn with that move." Shark taunted.

"How will I stop this? Oh, wait! I know, I set a trap card. Now what was that card?" Yuma thought as he clicked his duel disk to see what his face down was.

_/You set Bye bye Damage. If you would have played that before we might still have Gogogo Golem on the field./_ Astral patronized when she saw Yuma's mistakes.

"Well, maybe I wouldn't be distracted if a naked chick wasn't nagging me!" Yuma fumed.

_/Alright, next turn we need to summon two monsters./_

"What?"

_/Special summon a monster./_

"Oh, right, I knew that. Now it's my turn! I draw." Yuma tuned over the card.

_/Yes, Monster Reborn, fate hasn't abandoned me yet. Now, summon out Ganbara Knight in attack mode./_ She said as she pumped her fist in the air, excited.

"But, he has zero attack points."

_/Trust me, I know what I'm doing./_ Astral assured him.

"Fine, I will. First, I summon Ganbara Knight to the field."

_/Next, use Monster Reborn to bring Gagaga Magician back on the field./_ Yuma did so and then gave Astral a questioning look.

"Two monsters with the same level? Where's this going?"

_/Yuma, take a look at your extra deck./_ He did so and pulled out a card that wasn't there before.

"An Xyz monster? I don't even own one and I can't make out the words on the card." Yuma said in frustration as he tried to read the card's description.

_/I however can. It is No.39, Hope. Now, Yuma, overlay your 2 monsters./_

"Okay, I overlay level 4 Ganbara knight and Gagaga Magician. Now, rise on up Number 39: Hope! Okay! Attack Shark's Drill Barnacle with Rising Sun Slash!" Hope leaped into the air and pulled out his mighty swords and slashed them through Drill Barnacle. Shark's life points drop to 2500. Yuma stood back in awe of his monster.

"Did you see that, Tetsuo?! An Xyz monster and I summoned it! Ohhh this is just too cool." Yuma shouted, bouncing up and down in excitement.

"Alright, I end my turn." Yuma declared, still giddy with excitement. He then heard Shark laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"You! You actually think that number can defeat mine? You're insane! Now, from my hand I play the spell Surface, which allows me to bring one water attribute monster back from my graveyard. Welcome back Big Jaws, but he won't be staying, because I now send him back to the graveyard to tribute summon Jaws Man whose attack power is 2600, but with his special effect it's raised by 300 attack points for every water attribute monster on the field. I have one, so that makes Jaws Man's total attack points 2900. Now, No.17, attack Hope!"

_/Yuma, use one of Hope's overlay units to negate the attack!/_ Astral said quickly.

"Right! I use one overlay unit to negate your attack! Moon Barrier!" One of the glowing orbs that was spinning around Hope went into his chest and he absorbed it. His wings then went out in front of him, forming some sort of shield.

"Heh, you may have stopped that attack but I still have a second monster. Jaws Man, attack No.39!"

_/Yuma, use Hope's last overlay unit!/_

"I could do that, or I could activate the card Bye Bye Damage! That means that my monster isn't destroyed and you take double the damage!" A gust of wind blew dust in his face. "But I also take damage." He said covering his face.

"You may have saved yourself this time, but this trap should end you by the next turn. I play the trap Boomin Urchin so at the beginning of my next turn you'll take 1000 life points of damage."

_/W__hy didn't you listen to me! I told you to use Hope's overlay unit!/_

"Yeah, but sometimes I don't listen to what I'm told. Now, No.39, attack No.17!" Hope took out his sword and started flying towards Leviathan Dragon.

_/What are you doing!?/_

"I'm following my own plan. I use an overlay unit to negate 39's attack and then I active the spell card Double or Nothing, which means when I negate my monsters attack their attack points get doubled and I get another chance to attack again. Now, Hope, attack Leviathan Dragon with Rising Sun Slash!" Hope flew up and dive bombed 17, running his mighty sword through the dragon, making it combust and shatter into holographic bits. Shark was blown away by the shock waves of the attack and landed on his face a few yards from where he had been standing. His life points dropped down to zero and his remaining monsters return back to their card forms. A box, with Yuma's face and the word winner, showed up on his side of the field and the simulation started to fade back into reality.

"I won! I actually won, I beat Shark!" Yuma yelled as he ran over to Tetsuo, who was still amazed at what his friend had done. Astral continued to float where she had been most of the time.

'Amazing. This boy actually defeated a number, but how? Was it dumb luck?' She thought. 'No, he must be the one, how else could he see me and be able to possess a number?' Astral thought. She then looked to Shark, who was still laying on the ground. She heard a noise that seem to be calling for her, asking for her to take it back. She reached her hand towards Shark and silently beckoned the number. It flew off of his duel disk and landed in her hand and was absorbed into her flesh. As that happened, Shark started groaning as though someone had come up to him and punched him in the stomach. Yuma heard this and stopped his conversation with Tetsuo and walked up to Shark.

"Hey, Shark, you okay?" Yuma asked.

"What happened?"

"You just lost the duel against me and now you have to give me back Tetsuo's deck." Yuma said as he held out his hand to take the cards back.

"What duel?" Shark asked in a confused tone.

* * *

**A/N So was it worth the wait? A little fluff(If you want to call it that), some foreshadowing, and finally the duel. And I'll say it now it was not fun to write said duel. That was something I didn't think about when I started writing but I guess I'll say it now, I will for the, life of me, if it's possible, not write a duel. I just find them hard to write. Yes there are some I will have to write but small ones with little or no meaning will be skipped, done in a small shot, or simply talked about after the fact. Well I'm done talking, I think I might have missed something but hopefully not. Yami Gir signing off. **


	8. A Small Favor to Ask

**A/N Well it's late but I'm still updating before the clocks turn 12. I don't really have much to say so, happy reading I guess...**

* * *

"Wait, what do you mean 'what duel'?" Yuma questioned as he stared at Shark in disbelief. How could he have forgotten something that just happened less than 5 seconds ago?

"Well, the last thing I remember is following some girl." His eyes widened as he remembered what he did. "That girl, Astral, what did I do to her?" He got off the ground and grabbed Yuma's shoulders. "Where is Astral? I need to see her, I did horrible things to her and I have to explain myself!" Shark said frantically and he shook Yuma back and forth.

"Why should I trust you? And will you quit shaking me, you freaking spaz!" Yuma shouted as he pulled Shark's hands off his shoulders.

_/Yuma, I think I know what's going on. The number that had taken control of Shark's body was using him like a- a puppet and made him do what he did to me and Tetsuo./_

"How do you know that, Astral?"

_/The card showed me./_ She said as No.17 rose out of her hand and landed in his.

"It told you all that?"

_/Yes, and much more./_

"Please, Yuma, take me to where she is." Shark pleaded, his tough guy attitude gone, replaced with the guilt for all the wrong he caused.

"I still don't trust you after what you did to both Tetsuo and Astral."

_/Trust him. I know he's __telling the truth./_

"Are you sure?"

_/100% sure./_

"Fine. Come on, Shark, I'll take you to see her, but if you lay a hand on her you'll be the next one in the hospital." Yuma threatened.

"Thank you."

* * *

Astral was back in her body before Yuma and Shark came into her room. She slowly opened her eyes to find that she was in a white room with machines on the left and right sides of her bed.

"Oh my, you're awake already." The nurse from earlier said as she walked into the room. Astral slowly nodded her head but stopped when she felt a strong pain coming from the back of her skull. She closed her eyes again to try and stop the pain. The nurse chuckled.

"You took quite a blow to the back of your head so it will hurt for a while. Here, this might make you feel better." The nurse pulled a small white tablet out of her pocket and handed it to Astral. She then went to a nearby sink and filled up a glass of water and gave it to Astral, who had a confused look on her face.

"You put the pill in your mouth and then you use the water to swallow it." The nurse instructed and Astral did what she was told. 'These remedies probably won't help any' She thought as she drank the water, 'but it's worth a try.' She concludes knowing that she would be spending a large amount of time in her ship healing. There was a commotion from down the hall.

"Hey someone stop those kids! They can't be here!"

"All we need to do is see Astral, she'll be waking up soon!"

"Hey, that guy with the purple hair. He's on the watch list, someone call security or better yet call the police!"

"Please, we need to get in that room. We need to speak to the girl in there."

"What do you mean speak to? From what I've read she hasn't woken up, and now that I think about it, you were already here this morning so you should know this." The nurse who was with Astral left the room.

"Doctor the patient just woke up. Maybe you should allow these guests to see her." Astral heard the nurse say from the door.

"Very well, but you, with the purple hair, you have to come with us until the police arrive." The doctor said in a stern voice. Astral sat up in her bed slowly so her head wouldn't start pounding again and called softly.

"He may come in." The doctor along with the nurse, Yuma and Shark appeared at the front of her room.

"But, Miss, aren't you worried about what he might do?" The doctor tried to persuade Astral, but her mind was set.

"No, it's fine." She said in a firm tone.

"Alright, but the police are still coming so whatever you have to say to her, say it now before they take you away." Said the doctor as he jabbed a finger at Shark.

"Gladly." He then left, now only Yuma, Shark, and the nurse were in the room.

"I have other business to attend to. If you need anything, use the remote by you to contact us, alright?" Astral nodded her head in acknowledgment. "Okay, I'll be back in a few hours." And then she left the room. Yuma walked up to the right side of her bed and leaned in close so he could whisper in her ear.

"Are you sure about this? He could by lying about being mind controlled or whatever." Yuma said softly so Shark couldn't hear him.

"I know it was a number and I have enough protection right here, now don't I Yuma." She said with a giggle. Yuma turned red, realizing Astral had heard everything when he was there earlier. 'Aw, I did I act all lovey-dovey when I was here, didn't I?' He asked himself. 'Because you didn't know your crush was some amnesiac alien who was watching everything.' A voice answered back to him. That's right, he still had many questions to ask about the fact that she was a fucking alien.

"Shark, Astral is willing to hear anything you have to say to her." Yuma said, still standing close to her side. Shark slowly walked up to her and stood next to Yuma.

"I'm sorry for all those things that I did to you. I didn't mean it, honestly. At first I was following you, but then I blacked out or so it seemed, and the next thing I found myself doing was threatening you in the alley. It was like something was controlling my body and all I could do was watch. Will you please forgive me?" Shark said quietly as he stared at the ground.

"Yes, I forgive you. I believe your story and understand what you mean." Shark looked up at her and gave a slight smile.

"You're pretty cool for a foreign girl and, Yuma, a deal's a deal. Here's Tetsuo's cards and mine also." Shark said as he pull 2 sets of card out of his pocket. Yuma took Tetsuo's deck but left Shark with his.

"You keep yours, I don't need them and I forgive you, too, for what you did to Tetsuo." Yuma said, smiling. "In fact the duel with you was exhilarating and I hope we can do it again, but just for fun."

"That sounds cool. You're not too bad a duelist, yourself, from what little bits of the duel I saw. Well, I'll be leaving, then. See you around, Yuma, Astral." Shark said as he turned to leave the room.

"You're not going anywhere, Mr. Kamishiro, you're under arrest for sexual abuse and attempted rape." An officer said as he walked into the room.

"Wait, I can explain myself."

"Oh, really? Then go ahead, tell me." The officer said with an amused tone.

"Well, the problem is you might not believe me." Shark said, nervously.

"Then that means I shouldn't care." The man retorted.

Astral sighed, all this commotion was annoying, especially since her head was still throbbing.

"Astral, tell the officer you want to drop the charges." Yuma whisper quickly.

"Officer, I would like to drop the charges." She repeated out loud so the officer could hear her.

"Are you sure? What he did is not acceptable and it could endanger you in the future." The officer explained but Astral raised a hand to stop his talking.

"I know what I'm doing, sir. Now, will you please leave, my head's starting to hurt from all this talking."

"I'm sorry, but there's paperwork that needs to be filled out if you want to drop the charges."

"Fine, then I'll take care of the papers, so don't arrest Shark." She said, her tone raising.

"Fine, we'll have your parents sign them when you are released" The police officer said. Astral stiffened at the mention of parents, yet still nodded in agreement. The officer left and Shark turned to her.

"Thanks, Astral I owe you." He said as he, too, left the room with only Yuma to talk to. He let out a heavy sigh.

"I don't know what you're thinking, but I think you were right about letting Shark go. Now I have a few questions for you to answer."

"Ask away."

"Okay first: why did you appear out of nowhere when I was dueling Shark. And another thing: why were you naked?"

"I don't know how I got there but I think it's this key of yours. Remember what you said to me earlier, well I think this might have locked our souls together." She said as she tapped the key hanging around Yuma's neck.

"Okay, and do you know why you didn't have any clothes on?" He said leaning into her.

"I guess its because that's my spiritual from. So that means I can't take anything worldly with me. Why are you so worried about such a thing anyway." She answered back leaning into him. Yuma backed away from for her and turned so she wouldn't see his face.

"It's just wrong, okay. It's very distracting when you're floating beside me and brushing against me when I'm trying to duel."

"Oh, okay then. I just wanted to help. I'm sorry I was so bothersome." Astral said in a hurt tone. He turned around quickly and saw the hurt look on her face.

"No, no, don't be sorry, its not your fault. Actually I should be sorry. You were instructing me and I didn't listen and all I was doing was yelling at you when I should have taken your advice." He tried explaining. The last thing he wanted was her upset at him.

"Alright, then. Now, do you have anything else to ask me?"

"Yeah, what exactly are you and why are you here?"

"I don't know what I am and like I've already said, I'm here to save my world along with yours and the only way I can is with yours and the number cards' help."

"Why don't you have any memories?"

"I think something happened when I came to this planet and the numbers are really my lost memories." Astral said as she laid back down to try and get rid of the pain coursing through her head.

"How? The first crush I have is a frickin alien, how about that?" Yuma said to himself.

"Actually, I don't think I'm an alien. Maybe a celestial being, but I don't really know." Astral corrected.

"Whatever you are, you're not human, that's what I mean. Hey, you okay? You look like you're hurting." Yuma said with concern in his voice.

"It's fine, just whatever Shark did to me yesterday still hurts a little." She said as she grimaced in pain.

"Should I get some help?"

"No, I'm fine. I'll just need to heal in my ship when I get out of here." She said as she waved away his attempts to help her.

"Well, I have to go. I'll see you later." He said as he left her side.

"Actually, Yuma, there's one thing that I'll need your help with."

"Is that so? Well, what is it, then?"

"Yuma, I don't have parents."

"Yeah, what about it?" Astral looked out a window and tried to pick her words carefully.

"I need some type of guardian, mostly because of what happened with Shark and even though I could forge a signature, I would need an actual being to sign those papers."

"I don't get what you're saying." Astral sighed in frustration and grabbed his shirt so they were face to face.

"Yuma, may I live with you? I need to seem as human as possible and since I don't have any guardians, I need to live with someone who does." She said as she let go of his shirt and sank back down in bed.

"What?! How do I explain to Kari that a foreign girl's going to live with us because she's really an alien with no home?!"

"I don't know what you should do," Astral huffed, her patience wearing thin with him, "but think about this: because of the key, our souls are bound together. As long as you wear that key we can't be separated for more than a few days. So, think of that an incentive."

"But- but how? You know what, fine! I'll do it for you! I don't know why, though. Maybe it's the kindness in my heart or maybe it's the fact that I don't know fact from fiction any more, but sure, I'll do your dirty work for you! See ya' tomorrow, you freaky space girl." Yuma huffed as he stomped out of the room. Astral chuckled at his demonstration, yeah she might have felt bad about making him do all these things for her but his reactions were still pretty funny to watch. She looked around the room, searching for anything to occupy her for a while and remember the remote the nurse had told her about. She grabbed it from the table to her right and looked over the device. It had the numbers 0 through 9, as well as a big red button with the word 'Help' on it and another that said T.V. She pressed the T.V. button and a screen attached to the wall in front of her bed lit up. 'Interesting. This must be what is called a television like the ones I read about on the internet.' She thought. She flipped through the channels, mostly finding shows in which humans did outrageous things for some award or talked about the world and what was happening in it. Finally, she chose a show that pertained to Duel Monsters called 'Yu Gi Oh!', which talked about the original King of Games. She watched the show because it helped her gain an understanding of how the game worked in this world.

* * *

Hours passed and Astral continued to watch T.V. until the nurse arrived.

"Okay, you're going to be moved to a different part of the hospital, because you're not in a coma anymore and don't need to be monitored as closely." Astral nodded, signaling she understood but continued to watch T.V.

"Come on, Yami, all you need is the right card and then you can defeat Marik's God card." She said to the screen as the nurse started to unhook cords so Astral could be moved.

"Wow, you seem pretty into that show considering how old it is." The nurse commented as she continued to move things around. Astral looked at her, confused.

"What do you mean by old?"

"Well, honey, several years ago, the duel king Yugi Mutou decided that there should be a show about his rise to stardom, and even though his writers thought he was nuts to have 2 separate people as him they still aired the first season thinking it wouldn't gain popularity and would eventually be canceled. However, it was a hit and Duel Monsters and Duel Disk sales rose so high that Industrial Illusions and Kaiba Corp. started funding the show, so it could continue. And the only reason I call this show old is because it's the first of 2 other series."

"Oh, I see, so there have been other Duel Kings? Interesting."

"Mm-hm, now turn the T.V. off, you can continue watching it when you get to your new room." Astral reluctantly turned the T.V. off and the nurse pushed her bed into the hallway.

"Now, just to be clear, you will be sharing a room with another girl who has been in a coma for the past 3 days and just recently woke up. So, please get along with each other."

"That should be fine." Astral assured. They arrived at another room in a different wing of the hospital.

"Hello, are you wake?" The nurse said as she opened the door.

"Oh, hello." A familiar voice said. Astral peered into the room to she who the voice belonged to. Sitting up in the bed nearest the window, a green-haired girl with a side bun greeted Astral and the nurse with a wave. Astral's eyes grew wide as she looked at her: the first person she'd meet on this planet.

"Hi, I'm Kotori and I guess will be staying together for awhile." Kotori introduced herself. All Astral could do was stare. 'Is this the universe's way of reminding of what I did?'

* * *

**A/N Well... not much going on in this chapter if you ask me but it had to happen. And yes, I went a little Ooc with Shark but whatever, it had to happen. So next chapter should be out Friday then I will have to write a duel again, which I'm dreading but at least it won't be the main point of that chapter so I guess I shouldn't be so pessimistic about it. Well I'm done talking, Yami Gir signing off! **


	9. A New Residence

**A/N Well update time. I can't think of much else to say but another slow chapter. I hope I don't lose anyone's attention because I'm to explanatory but I guess that's my fault. Enjoy the chapter!  
**

* * *

Yuma sighed as he walked to the hospital. It had been one hell of a week for him. It started with his best friend, Kotori, getting kidnapped and a new girl, calling herself Astral, transferring to his school, and even though he wouldn't openly admit it, he did have a bit of a crush on her. Then, when he was watching Tetsuo duel Shark, the school bully, he found out that he, too, had taken a liking to her and somehow Yuma got mixed up in their personal shit. This leads us to why he is going to the hospital: Shark put Astral there for supposedly cheating on him. Yuma then forced Shark to duel him for her safety, only to find out that his love interest was actually some sort of blue alien chick who'd lost her memories.

'Well, at least I won.' Yuma thought as he walked into the hospital. There was one good thing about Astral, though, she was indeed a master duelist. Even if he and Astral had dueled only two people together, he could tell she had skill, especially after they defeated Mr. Kay. She used his whole 'perfect strategy' against him. He walked into the room Astral was staying in. She was sitting on her bed, looking at the 3 number cards they now owned.

"Hey, Astral." Yuma said as he walked up beside her. She looked at him and smiled before she put her cards on the table beside her.

"Good morning, Yuma, did you finally do what I asked you to?" She said kindly, making Yuma groan inwardly. For the past week, "May I live with you?" is the only thing she's been asking him . He still remembers the conversation with his grandma and sister.

_**(Last Night)**_

"Hey, Grandma, Kari I have to ask you something." Yuma said as they ate their supper.

"What is it dear?" His grandma questioned as she put her bowl down on the table. Yuma took a deep breath.

"There's a transfer student in my class who doesn't have anyone to live with so, can she please stay here?" Yuma said quickly. Kari slammed her bowl on the table.

"What?!"

"Well, a girl transferred to school a few days ago but see she doesn't have anyone to live with." He said meekly.

"And why are you the one she has to live with?" Kari said in a to calm voice.

"Well, she asked me." He replied. His sister gave him a blank look that quickly turned angry.

"Why did she ask you? I bet you barely know her. So why does that entitle you to have to care for her?!" Kari huffed.

"Well," Yuma started. He really didn't think this through at all."Well the reason she asked me is because I'm the only person that really talks to her."

"So what?"

"Well, I also kind of put her in the hospital." Yuma laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his head. Kari slammed her fists on the table.

"You put someone in the hospital?! Why didn't you tell us!?" She screamed across the table. Yuma covered his face with his hands and cowered in response to his sister fierce response.

"Hey, I didn't actually put her in the hospital. I just kind of caused it." Yuma said trying to not get yelled at more. Haru got up and put a hand on her granddaughter's shoulder.

"Kari, calm down, we're trying to enjoy a peaceful meal as a family but we can't do that with you yelling at your brother." Kari sat back down in her chair and continued eating but would occasionally glare at Yuma. "Now, Yuma, how did you put this girl in the hospital?"

"Well, like I said before I didn't really do it. I was going to watch Tetsuo duel, and she kinda followed me and well, Tetsuo's opponent took it the wrong way and beat her up."

"But, honey, that's not your fault."

"Well, I feel like it is because I dragged her there, and the only reason she asked to live here is because I said I owed her for the trouble I caused." Yuma said as he looked at down at his food sadly.

"How kind of you, taking responsibility for something you didn't do and for someone you barely knew." Haru praised her grandson.

"Yeah, I just didn't expect her to ask something like that." Yuma said under his breath.

"Yes, that is true but she must trust you enough to ask you such a question."

"So, let me guess you're actually going to allow this?" Kari said finishing her meal.

"Why of course, there's nothing wrong in helping someone who needs a place to stay." Haru said. "Now, Yuma, you tell this girl she's allowed to stay here as long as she wants, okay?"

"Yes, grandma." He said as he got up and hugged her. "Astral will be happy to know that."

_**(End Flashback)**_

"Yes, you can stay at my house." Yuma finally said. Astral clapped her hands together in delight.

"Wonderful!" She said in a cheerful tone.

"Hey, Yuma, is that you?" Someone said from the other side of the curtain that was dividing the room.

"Oh hey, Kotori, I forgot that you were in here, too." Yuma said with a small laugh as he pulled the curtain back.

"What, you remember the girl you barely know but forget about one of your friends." She said crossing her arms.

"N-no. I just needed to talk to Astral first, that's all." Yuma said trying to defend himself. Kotori laughed.

"I was just messing with you."

"Oh, okay then." He said in relief. "Hey, when do you get out of here?" He said changing the subject.

"Today, same as Astral. I was actually planning on going shopping with her today, to show her around." Kotori said as Astral nodded in agreement.

"It's true. She said she could show me around the city." Astral added. She was happy that she was put in the same room with Kotori, even though at first she was nervous that somehow she would remember her. Luckily, for Astral, she didn't recognize her and they soon were able to restart the friendship that she'd made Kotori forget.

"But I think we might need to do it a different day." Astral said sadly.

"Too bad."

"Okay, well, that's all I came here to tell you. So I'll see you this afternoon." Yuma said as he left the room.

"Bye, Yuma." Kotori and Astral said in unison as he left.

* * *

"So, you'll sleep in this room and I'll be in the attic." Yuma said as he showed Astral around.

"Alright, then, but I'll tell you now: I don't really need sleep." Astral said as she looked around her new room.

"You're kidding me, right?"

"No, why would I?" She said as she stared at Yuma in confusion.

"Well, it's unnatural for anyone to go without sleeping and now that I think about it, weren't you sleeping when Shark put you in the hospital?"

"No, I wasn't sleeping. I was in an unconscious state." Astral corrected.

"But what's the difference?"

"When I'm in said state, my body is really just resting. My spiritual form, like what you see when we're dueling is still awake and usually in my ship, or with you, depending on the case." Astral explained as she sat on the bed in the room.

"So you're telling me you don't sleep?"

"Yes. I mean I can sleep about once a week but I don't need to."

"God, is there anything else I should know about you and your weird needs?!" Yuma said putting a hand to his face.

"More like 'lack of', anyway, I don't need to eat either."

"Really?" He said in surprise.

"Nope."

"I'll say it again, weird."

* * *

"Here's the bathroom." Yuma said opening the door.

"And what is this room meant for?" Astral asked, curiously. He blushed.

"We'll this is where you can bath, if you need to." Yuma said hoping he wouldn't need to explain further.

"Oh, okay then. What's that?" She pointed at the shower.

"That's a shower."

"And what is it used for?"

"That's where you can clean yourself." Yuma explained.

"I see."

"Okay... So, dinner will be ready in a few minutes so, if you want to, you can shower later." He said as he turned to leave the room.

"Yuma! Supper, and don't forget to wash up!" His grandma called.

"Coming. Come on, Astral." Yuma said as he grabbed her hand.

"But, Yuma I don't eat." She said as he dragged her down the stairs. He looked back at her.

"Oh yeah, that. Um, I'll think of something." He said as he walked away. Astral sighed. 'Sometimes, Yuma, I question your intellect.' She thought.

* * *

"Wow, everything looks great, Grandma!" Yuma said as he sat down at the table and started eating. Astral sat in the chair next to him and looked at the food before her. Yuma stopped eating when he noticed that she was just staring at her food.

"Hey, why aren't you eating anything?"

Astral rolled her eyes.

"I already told you: I don't eat." She said, with an irritated sigh.

"Hey, what are you two whispering about?" Haru questioned.

"Oh, nothing." Astral said quickly as she picked up a bowl of rice and stuck her chopsticks into it.

"Okay, then." Haru said as she went back to her food. Astral picked at her rice until an idea popped in her head.

_/Yuma, do you hear me?/_ She thought.

"What?!" He said out loud making everyone look at him. He quickly returned to his food.

_/Yuma, talk with your mind/_ Astral instructed.

_/Like this?/_ He questioned as her voice rang through his head.

_/Yes, like that. Now, what are we supposed to do with this?/_ Astral thought as she stirred her rice, trying to emphasize what she was talking about. He went silent for awhile until finally coming up with an answer.

_/How about this. Every time someone isn't looking I take something from your plate./_

_/That is... a pretty good idea._/ Astral thought, amazed that he had actually thought something through.

_/Good, but I would suggest at least eating the rice or something. You know, so it looks like you're eating./_

_/Okay./_ She thought as she ate a small amount of rice.

'Well, this isn't that bad.' She reasoned as she started to pass her food to Yuma while they weren't being watch.

* * *

"That was great." Yuma exclaimed as he walked into his room, rubbing his stomach.

"Yes, it was a good meal." Astral said, walking in after him.

"What do you mean? All you had was rice."

"Yes and it was really good."

"That's beside the fact, Astral." Yuma said. "Well I'm bored. I think I'll go through my cards or something like that." He said as he got up and started climbing the ladder that lead to the attic.

"What should I do?" Astral questioned as she stood in the middle of the room.

"I don't know. Go take a shower or something but stay out of my way." He grunted as he climbed up and out of sight.

"I bet you'd like me to take a shower, you peeping Tom."

Yuma simply glared at her and mumbled as he resumed his ascent.

'What's with him all of the sudden?' She thought as left the room and walked into the bathroom.

"So, how do I work this?" She pondered as she examined the shower.

* * *

"So, if I use this card, I can the summon this kind of monster?" Yuma said as he looked over his cards that were spread out in front of him.

"Gah! This makes no sense!" He exclaimed as he rubbed the back of his head and threw down his cards. "I have to learn how to use these things some day." He said in frustration as he picked another card and looked it over.

"YUMA!" A voice called him from downstairs. He dropped everything and ran towards the location of the voice which so happened to be the bathroom.

"What is it?" He said as he ran in the room. He found Astral sitting on the counter top of the sink with a frustrated look on her face.

"Yuma, I can't figure out how to work this thing." She huffed, pointing at the shower. He did a facepalm.

"You've never used a shower before?"

"Well, no."

"Why do I have to teach you everything!?" He complained.

"Because you have lived on this planet all your life and you know how to do these things." Astral reminded. "And I just asked you a simple question."

"Fine." He said as he walked up to the shower. "You twist this knob for hot water and you twist this one for cold, and since you don't seem to know anything, you're not supposed to wear your clothes in there." He said sarcastically. He turned to leave only to find her taking off her clothes. He put his hands over his eyes.

"You're supposed to wait until I leave!" He said embarrassed.

"Sorry." She said holding her cloths in front of her small figure.

"Here." Yuma said, throwing a towel at her and slowly heading towards the door. "Please put this on and don't do that in front of me again! Ever!" He said as he left, giving her no time to answer.

"I wonder why he gets all worked up over these things?" She asked herself as she walked into the warm water of the shower.

"This feels wonderful." She said as the water cascaded over her entire body, slowly washing away the makeup she had been wearing since her arrival. 'There are many luxuries on this planet.' She thought as she looked at the shower head. 'Like the ability to have water magically come to their place of residence.'

Yuma sat in his attic, thinking. "This whole mess with Astral is nuts." He said out loud. "Not only do I have to collect a hundred of these number card things, but I also have to win ever duel or Astral will die." He said hanging his head.

'I didn't ask for this. All I wanted to do was play a card game, but now the fate of the world, or some crap, is left in my hands.' He heard the door to his room open.

"Hey, Astral, is that you?" He asked, not bothering to get up and look.

"Yes, it's me." She answered.

"Good. Um, hey, there are some cloths on your bed for you to sleep in. Kari told me to give them to you, so you can use them if you want." He said. He received no answer back and went back to his own thoughts.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" A voice said from behind him. He jumped, turning to find Astral floating behind him.

"Holy shit, you scared me! And how come you're floating?"

"Sorry and to answer your other question: because I can." She said with a sly grin. Yuma turned around trying to ignore her but found it very difficult because he could feel her eyes burning into his back.

"Will you just leave already!" He snapped, jerking his head back to look at her. She sighed, propping her chin on her hand with her elbow resting on her knee.

"I'll leave when you answer my question." She said in a bored tone.

"It's nothing. I'm just thinking about everything that's happened so far." He said forcing his eyes on her. She looked at him.

"You mean me and the numbers? Am I correct?"

"Well, yeah, I guess so."

"It can't be helped. It is a lot for someone of your intellect to understand." Yuma glared at her.

"Sure, let's go with that. Now can you leave, I want to sleep and I can't do that with you watching me." He said getting up and into his hammock.

"Whatever you wish." Astral said as she left the attic and laid down on her own bed. She then waited until all she could hear was Yuma snoring above her. She left her body, deciding it should rest and went up to where he was.

"You're really are something." She said softly, looking down at him. "I still can't fathom why I was paired with you." She said. "Was I supposed to take your body and collect numbers that way?" She asked. She then remember what she was told before she had awoken and the fact she had her own body.

"No, I don't think that's right, but that still doesn't answer anything. I mean, why you? You have barely any skills at the game, your knowledge non-existent, and you're so stubborn." She ranted to herself, her anger slowly rising. She looked down at the sleeping boy again, who was mumbling something about a duel.

"It's fine... I'll keep you safe... Astral, I'll help get your memories back." Yuma rambled in his sleep. Astral felt her anger diminish hearing him say such things.

"What he lacks in knowledge and skill, he makes up with confidence and kindness." She said smiling. "Maybe this partnership isn't all that bad."

* * *

**A/N I once again have nothing to say. So I guess I'll see you all later with my next update. Yami Gir signing off!**


	10. Flipping You Off

**A/N Well it's my last Friday before school starts so why not celibate by staying up till 4 in the morning, read fanfiction and stalk tumblr. Yeah I'm out of it right now, so enjoy.**

* * *

Yuma and Astral walked to school slowly, with Yuma still half asleep.

"God, why did you have to get me up so early, Astral?" He grumbled halfheartedly.

"Well, since I don't really need to sleep I got bored really fast, so you can't blame me for wanting to have company." She said.

"Yeah, I get where you're coming from, but did you really need to wake me up at 5:30 a.m.?"

"Well, the sun was rising so I thought it was as good as any time to wake you." Astral said pointing her finger at the sun.

"Yeah, well next time can you wait an hour? And if you're really that bored, maybe you should just leave." He said sarcastically.

"I can't Yuma. You know as well as I do that your key locks our souls together." She said matter-of-factly, not catching Yuma's sarcasm.

"Whatever, I guess I could keep the TV on for you to keep you entertained." He said.

"Okay, that way I can learn more about your world." She said amused.

"Sure, however you want to look at it. Oh hey, it's Kotori." Yuma said excitedly, dragging Astral along behind him as he ran toward her.

"Hey Kotori! How's it going?" Yuma waved as he walked up to her.

"Oh, hey, Yuma. Hi Astral." She said waving back. "Wow, isn't it a little early for you to be here, Yuma?" He groaned, remembering how tired he was.

"Astral woke me up early because she couldn't sleep." He complained.

"Really? Good job!" She said giving a thumbs up to Astral, who laughed at the gesture.

"Yeah, though it wasn't easy waking him up." She commented, making him groan even more. These two should be sympathizing with him, not laughing. Kotori and Astral continued talking until someone walked up, calling for Yuma.

"Hey, Yuma! How's it goin buddy?" A kid wearing the same school uniform, a goofy hat, and large glasses greeted.

"Um, who are you?" Yuma questioned, staring down at the kid.

"Well, allow me to introduce myself. My name's Flip, a name I take great pride in, because I believe everything has a flip side. My right has my left, my back has my front, and my sadness has happiness." Flip introduced with a smile.

"Well, hi." Yuma said simply. Astral curiously watched the small boy.

'What is this dark aura I feel? Is it coming from him?' She thought as she watched him converse with Yuma.

"Yuma, I just wanted to thank you so much for taking down that bully Shark. He was always picking on me, so I'm happy someone finally had enough guts to knock him down a few pages." Flip glorified.

"Oh, it was nothing." Yuma said waving a hand.

"Oh, really?" Yuma tensed at the weird girl's glare, making Flip wonder if he was really as tough as the rumors claimed.

"Well," He said coughing into his fist, gaining the attention of Yuma, "I have something I want to give to you." He said, pulling something out of his pocket.

"Oh really? What is it?" Yuma asked excitedly.

"It's a card, and Xyz's monster in fact, and I want you to have it, Yuma, as a sign of our friendship." He said holding the card out in front of him.

"A card as a sign of our friendship? Like I'd pass that up." Yuma said happily reaching for the card, but before he could grab it, someone started to drag him away.

"Come on! I need you to help me get all the notes I missed while I was gone." Kotori said, pulling Yuma with her.

"You should come, too, Astral." She said, looking back to see her still standing there. Astral nodded her head before quickly catching up with them. She looked back to see Flip glaring in their direction.

"So it seems the rumors are true: the reason behind Yuma's duel with Shark is some strange girl." Flip said to himself. "That Astral girl seemed to unnerve him in a very unusual way, so she's probably behind Yuma's winning." He looked down at his card. "But we'll find out soon now, won't we, Baby Tiragon." He said holding the card up a grinning like a madman.

* * *

"Hey! Why'd ya drag me all the way here?!" Yuma complained as the trio arrived in the classroom.

"Yuma, I don't want you to talk to Flip anymore." Kotori said suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"I heard rumors about him and I was also in the same class as him a while back. That guy is always planning something." She explained. Yuma gave her a questioning look. "And if you don't believe me then ask Tetsuo, because he knows what I'm talking about too." He continued to complain but didn't say anything else, allowing Astral to ask some questions.

"Kotori, you said you've heard things about him, right? What exactly is said about him." She said in a low voice so Yuma couldn't hear them.

"Well from what I've heard, he cheats to get respect or anything he wants. I've also heard he makes up lies and rumors about people so he can take what he wants from them while they have no one to help." Kotori said whisper it in Astral ear.

"I don't like it!" Astral declared quickly standing, sending her chair rattling to the floor, making the few people in the room look at her. She quietly sat back down.

"If that boy wants anything to do with Yuma, he'll have to take me on, too!" Astral said confidently. Kotori looked at her in amazement. From what she was told, Astral had only been to this school for two days before she was put in the hospital, yet somehow Yuma had made friends with her, and to make things even more amazing: both of them would stand up for each other one minute and the next be fighting like an old married couple. God, she wished she could remember what happened during her disappearance. That may explain why these two know each other so well.

* * *

Astral soon learned that Flip was very insistent on giving Yuma his card. She was constantly dragging Yuma away from his biggest fan, which usually lead to a bitching match soon after.

"Damnit, Astral! Will you stop doing that to me!" Yuma yelled as he broke her grasp on his wrist.

"I just wanted to get home as soon as possible." She said in an innocent tone.

"Is that so? From what I've seen, you love school so why should I believe that." He spat.

"I was doing it for you, but I guess next time I won't care." She crossed her arms trying to look angry but really only doing it to get Yuma's mind off of Flip.

"Wait, don't get upset." He said falling for her little act. "I'm happy you did it for me, you were just pushy that's all. If you want to get home faster, just say something. Besides I always rush home on Fridays so you don't have to drag me, okay?" He said hoping she wasn't too angry. She uncrossed her arms and smiled at him.

"Okay." She said as they continued to walk. Astral was happy this week was finally over. Flip was quite a nuisance and she was glad she didn't have to worry about him for two days. She then remembered something.

"Hey, Yuma, Kotori and I are going shopping tomorrow,"

"Yeah, so?"

"Can you come too?" She asked.

"Well you see, guys don't really do those kinds of things."

"Why not?"

"Well, it's just how things are. You girls shop and us guys do...other things, stuff we like." Yuma said, trying his best to explain how society worked.

"That doesn't seem right." She huffed.

"Well that's life." He said shrugging his shoulders.

"You just don't want to spend time with me." She pouted.

"Wait! No! That's not it."

"So you'll come, then?" She said excitedly. Yuma looked down in defeat.

"Fine, I'll go."

"Good." Astral said, grabbing hold of Yuma's wrist again and running. "Come on, you're so slow." She teased as he tried to keep up with her.

As they arrived at his house, Yuma was greeted, ever so warmly, by his older sister.

"Hey, Yuma! What did I tell you about dueling?!" Kari yelled as he walked in the door.

"What do you mean? I haven't been dueling." He said nervously, trying to sound innocent.

"But what about the num-" Was all Astral managed to say before Yuma put a hand over her mouth. Kari looked at the two, unconvinced and threw a letter at him.

"This came for you today." She said, sitting down and returning to her work. Yuma turned the letter over and read quickly what was written on it. 'To Yuma, My biggest Hero.' He jumped in the air.

"Woo Hoo! I got fan mail!" He shouted causing Kari give him a serious look.

"Um, I'll be upstairs." He said as he hurried up the stairs, Astral following closely behind. Yuma quickly climbed into the attic and sat on the floor, looking at the letter with excitement. Astral floated into the room and sat cross-legged in mid-air, since there was no other place for her to sit.

"My first fan letter." Yuma said again, as he started to open it.

"Yuma, why does Kari not want you dueling?" Astral questioned making him stop everything he was doing.

"It's none of your concern" He said, annoyed.

"I see, even though you have ears and acknowledge something, you still choose not to cooperate. I guess that's what makes humans so hard to work with." She commented, floating closer to him. Yuma's eye twitched at the comment, but ultimately decided it wasn't worth fighting over.

"Whatever." He huffed, opening his letter. A card dropped out, face down and he turned it over.

"Hey, it's a Baby Tiragon card like Flip's been trying to give me." He pointed out. A hologram appeared with the image of what looked like a girl with her back to the camera.

"I'm your biggest fan, Yuma, and I want you to have this card. It's very special to me, so it would be my honor for you to use it." A small, squeaky voice said. The imaged then disappeared.

"Wow, that's really nice of someone to do that." Yuma said, holding the card to the light and looking at it. Astral didn't seem to care about the card but more about the letter itself.

"Yuma, let me see that." She said holding her hand out.

"What, the card?"

"No, what it came in."

"Okay." He shrugged handing it to her. She looked over the letter.

"Isn't it odd that there is nothing that says who it's from... what do you call it? A return address, ah, yes, there is no return address." She asked. He thought about it for a second.

"Maybe she is just shy." He said.

'Or she didn't want you to know who she was.' She thought.

"Don't worry about it, Astral. You make things more complicated they are. You need to learn to relax, not everything is evil." He said, trying to sound reassuring, though she still couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

* * *

**A/N So like I said before I start school on Tuesday. So I really don't know how it will affect my writing but I'll try to keep to schedule. One last thing before I leave, I'll be going on a vacation next Friday after school, so more than likely I'll update on Thursday for the hell of it. Well good night. Yami Gir signing off! **


	11. Flip-Flop

**A/N Well... It's Monday not Thursday. Well fuck. Yeah sorry about the false promise but it was not my fault. Blame Tsuki, she was to lazy to edit when I asked her, but hey I at least got this out before it was to late. So enjoy.**

* * *

"Oh! We haven't been here yet." Kotori said taking Astral's hand and leading the way. Both girls had several bags in hand, each bearing a different label, indicating they'd been to several places.

"I think we should let Yuma catch up first, before we go anywhere else." Astral said looking for the young duelist amongst the crowd.

"Man, can't you guys slow down for once!?" Yuma complained as he walked up to the girls.

"Why can't you hurry up?" Kotori retorted. He tried thinking of a comeback but was unsuccessful. He simply sat down on the nearest bench.

"Why don't we just take a rest or something?" He said looking at his friend.

"We already did 10 minutes ago. We don't need another." Kotori commented angrily.

"I suggest that Kotori and I continue while you rest, Yuma." Astral suggested not wanting the two to start a fight. Kotori nodded her head.

"Good idea, maybe then we won't have to hear Yuma complain anymore." She grinned looking in his direction. He shrugged and leaned back.

"Fine by me. Have fun." He said waving them off. The two walked off leaving Yuma alone.

'How did I get myself talked into this.' He complained. 'I knew Kotori was into clothes and stuff like that but I never guessed Astral would be the same.' He then thought of something.

"What if Astral gets into shopping? I'll be dragged here every week!" He groaned. Just his luck, the being he's stuck with will force him to do things he didn't like. Great! Distracted by his fit of self pity, he didn't realize Flip come up behind him.

"Oh, hey, Yuma." Flip said, trying to catch his attention. Yuma looked back and waved.

"Hey, Flip, how's it hanging?" He greeted. "Hey, how about you sit with me?" Yuma offered moving over to one side of the bench and gesturing for him to take a seat beside him.

"Really?!"

"Yeah, why not." He shrugged. Flip jumped onto the seat next to him and started talking.

"Wow, I can't believe I'm sitting in the presence of the great Yuma Tsukumo." He said with excitement.

"Hey, now, calm down. I'm not that great." Yuma said rubbing the back of his head. "Though I don't mind all the compliments."

"Say, Yuma, what are you doing at the mall?" He asked out of the blue.

"Well, I was here with Kotori and Astral, but they didn't want to take any breaks so they left me here." He sighed.

"Oh, that's too bad. You shouldn't have to do what those stupid _girls_ tell you to." Flip said smugly. Yuma glared at him for calling his friend stupid but didn't say anything.

"You know what? For some reason that reminds me of something I want to ask you." Yuma looked down at him, curious of what he had to ask.

"What is it?"

"Um, oh yeah! What was the card you use to beat Shark?" He asked.

"Oh, I used a number card called Hope." Yuma said.

"Oh really? And can I see this all powerful card?" Flip said with a evil grin creeping onto his face.

"Sorry, but no. It's too important to take out just for the hell of it." Yuma explained. Flip slapped a hand on his back.

"I feel you, man. You're worried that you might lose it and I understand, but is there any way you could show it to me?" He said, slowly removing his hand from Yuma's back, making sure a little note was taped there.

"Well, I guess the only way you could see it is if you were to duel me."

"Oh, really?! Sweet, I get to duel Yuma." He said bouncing joyfully.

"So you accept my challenge?"

"Of course. Let's get this duel started." He said pulling out his D-gazer.

"With pleasure. Duel Disk: Set! D-Gazer: Set! Duel!" They said in unison. A virtual world crept over reality and all the mall goers disappeared.

"Okay, I'll go first." Flip said drawing a card and adding it to his hand. "I set one monster face down and end my turn." Flip declared.

"My turn. Draw." Yuma said looking over his hand. "I play Gagaga Magician in attack mode. Now, Gagaga, attack his face down." He ordered. The armored magician flew towards the face down card and was about to punch it when it suddenly flipped over.

"Flip effect, activate!" Flip announced, his card turning over to reveal what looked like a fish skeleton. "Porcupine Fishes' effect activates whenever it is flip summoned. So that means you take 400 points of damaged." He said as the fish shot its rid bones at Yuma like they were darts. He braced himself against the attack.

"Even though I still take damage from its effect, my Magician still has a higher attack, so say goodbye to your dead fish!" Yuma said as his monster finished its attack.

"I end my turn."

Flip smiled. "Even though I lose my monster I still took life points away from the great Yuma Tsukumo!" He bragged. "Now, I put another monster face down along with two other cards and end my turn."

"Ha, I see what you're doing! You're building up a defense." Yuma pondered looking at his opponent's side of the field.

"Aww, is it really that obvious?" Flip sighed.

"Hey that's okay. Sometimes that's all you can do, right? Now I draw. I play Full Elf in attack mode. Alright, Full Elf, attack his face down." Yuma declared forcing his elf to rush into battle.

"Heh, you fell for it again. Flip effect activate. When Q-Bone is flip summoned I can summon three Q-Bone Jr.'s in defense mode on my opponent's side of the field." Flip said with a smirk as three miniatures of his monster flew onto Yuma's field. Yuma looked at the three monsters in disbelief.

"Um, Flip, why are you happy about this? They're on my field, not yours." He said with confusion written on his face. Flip looked at his card in a staged panic.

"Crap! I misread the effect. Damnit!" He cursed himself.

"Too bad. Now I attack with Gagaga Magician. So you'll take a full 1500 life points of damage." Yuma said as his magician punched Flip, sending him backwards. "Now I end my t-" He started but was quickly interrupted by Flip.

"Wait! You're really stopping with that? Couldn't you do something else with what you have on your field?" He said trying to persuaded him to do what he wanted. Yuma looked closely at his field.

"Oh hey, I can Xyz summon." Yuma said. "Alright! I overlay my three level one Q-Bone Jr.'s in order to build the overlay network. Come on out, Baby Tiragon." He shouted as a plume of dust swirled in the middle of the field. As it cleared a small little cat with tiger stripes and a dragon's tail sat in the middle of the field looking at Yuma with a sad face. "Now I really will end my turn." He said with a small laugh. Flip looked at Baby Tiragon with greed.

'Yuma did it! He actually did it! He fell right into my trap and didn't even realize it.' He yelled in his head. Getting his number was going to be a snap now! Thanks to that note he left on his back, so long as he won, Flip got any card of his choosing from Yuma's deck. Hope was as good as his.

"Hey, Flip, it's your turn." Yuma called pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Oh right. I draw. Now, um, I think I'll play this." He stuttered, trying to look unskilled.

"Take your time. I'm in no hurry to finish this." Yuma reassured. Flip smirked, he couldn't believe how easily he believed his act!

'Foolish, stupid Yuma. You have no idea what you're in for.'

"I activate my trap: Ultra C. This card is activated when Baby Tiragon is summoned on my opponent's field and it allows me to summon one of their Xyz monster." He said looking at Yuma. "And I summon your number." Flip held out his hand waiting for the card.

"Carp, this isn't good." Yuma said looking at Baby Tiragon. "Hey, good move, but can you ask for a different monster, maybe?" He asked. Flip couldn't believe it. He was actually asking him to pick a different card! This boy really is stupid!

"But, Yuma that wouldn't be fair. I mean, I played the trap fair and square." He said.

"But you see," Yuma stuttered looking at his opponent and then to his extra deck. 'Astral said something about giving numbers up, but what was it? Even though I can't remember, I don't think it's any good for her.' He thought frantically.

"I guess you're not so great after all, then. I mean, you're so hesitant to give up one card. If you really were the person who took down Shark, you wouldn't get so frustrated over such a little thing." He taunted. This was the only thing that stood in the way of him and Yuma's number card.

"What!? I'm not worried! In fact I'll give it to you now and have it back next turn and you can count on that." He shouted, retrieving the card. "What the? It's not here."

"What!?"

"I can't find it at all! I can't find 17 or 34, either!" Yuma said frantically as he pulled the holder of his belt and held it upside down to see if anything fell out.

"Sorry, Flip, I guess we'll have to continue later." He apologized.

"No! I mean you can't just leave in the middle of a duel. Do you know where they are?" He asked hoping they wouldn't have to stop. Yuma thought about every time he had seen the numbers. He had only used them twice: once against Shark and then against Mr. Kay. Any other time, she had them. Yuma struck his fist to his open hand.

"She has them!" He said out loud.

"Who has them?" Flip said with a confused look.

"Astral, she always carries them."

"Astral? Oh you mean that new girl who barely talks?"

"Yeah, her."

"Come on, then, let's go get them so we can continue." Flip said putting their duel on stand by and grabbing Yuma's hand.

* * *

"Hey, Astral, take a look at these." Kotori said holding up a pair of gold earrings, but Astral was too distracted to care.

'What is this sense of foreboding I keep feeling?' She thought looking at nothing in particular. Kotori waved a hand in front of her face.

"Hey, you awake? How come you keep zoning out?" She asked. "Are you bored, because we can stop when you feel like it." She said concerned. Astral, being pulled out of her thoughts, shook her head.

"No, I'm not bored, I'm just thinking, that's all." She reassured.

"Well, that's good to know. So, what do you think about these earrings? It would be a nice change from those silver ones you're always wearing." Kotori said waving them back and forth. Astral put a hand to ear and played with the piece of jewelry that hung from it.

"Um, I'd rather stick to these." She said.

"Okay, whatever you feel like." Kotori put them back on the rack. "So... Where should we go next?" She asked herself as they left the store.

"How about..." Astral started.

"Yo, Astral, stay where you are." Someone shouted, she looked into the crowd of shoppers. Yuma and Flip ran up to her.

"Hold on for a sec." Yuma gasped trying to regain his breath.

"What is it? I thought you were taking a break." She looked over at Flip. "And what is he doing with you?" She finished.

"Do you have the numbers?" He asked.

"Of course, I always carry them." She quickly thought of something. "Wait, is there someone with a number here? How come I can't sense it?" She whispered in Yuma's ear jumping to conclusions.

"No one has a number, I just need it for a duel: nothing big." He assured. Astral sighed.

"Yuma I'm not going to give it to you unless it's needed."

"Hey, why are you controlling what Yuma can and can't do? And why do you hold his cards?" Flip intervened, causing Astral to slowly lose her temper.

"This has nothing to do with you." She spat at him.

"Hey, no need to start a fight, you guys." Yuma said stepping in between the two.

"Yuma, what's this?" Astral said taking a note off his hood

"Huh? I don't know. Maybe someone tried to prank me? I bet it says "Kick Me" on it." He concluded. She opened the note and read it aloud.

'If you lose this duel, I get any card of my choosing from your extra deck. Signed Flip Turner.' She crumpled the note in her hand when she'd read it.

"You're trying to steal the numbers!" Astral shouted, pointing at Flip.

"Hey, calm down." Yuma said pushing her hand down.

"You fool! I can't simply let him walk away after he tried to steal something from me!" She hissed in his ear trying to keep the conversation to themselves.

"But I was winning. I could easily beat him." He retorted.

"Oh, really? Give me your duel disk." She commanded.

"Sure, but why do you want it?" He asked.

"Unlike you, I look ahead in duels in an attempt to predict the opponent's strategy." She said bluntly. Yuma whined but she ignored it. Astral looked over the duel disk at Flip.

"How did you know Yuma had a Baby Tiragon card when hes only had it for a day?" She questioned. Flip gave her a off smile and turned around putting a wig on that appeared out of nowhere.

"I'm your biggest fan and I want you to have this card." He said in a girlish voice. He turned back around and threw the wig off.

"Wait, that was your card?!" Yuma shouted in surprise.

"Yes, and now that I know where the numbers are I'm going to take them from you." Flip said pointing at Astral. "I challenge you to a duel!" He demanded. She stared at him with hatred in her eyes.

"I decline." She hissed. Both Yuma and Flip stared at her.

"But why? You and I both know how good you are." Yuma demanded.

"I have no reason to partake in a duel that lays my numbers on the line with no gain if I win." She said clenching her fists.

"Well, if you won't duel me maybe I'll just take them from you!" Flip said running up to her and sticking a hand in her pocket.

The sound a person being slapped rang through the room. Flip put a hand to his cheek and looked up at Astral whose hand was still raised.

"You will not touch me or the numbers." She said in a low, dangerous tone. Yuma and Kotori looked on in shock. Neither thought that the quiet girl they had befriended could become so aggressive, especially over something like a trading card.

"Come on, Yuma, we're leaving." She stated as she turned to leave. Flip sank to the ground and started to whimper.

"Why does everyone hate me?" He cried. Astral looked over her shoulder and glared at him.

"If you didn't have so many evil intentions in your heart, maybe people would try to befriend you." She said fiercely.

"It's not my fault, people have only shown their worst to me! So I thought I would get more people to like me if I acted like that." He sobbed.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Yuma said crouching down next to him.

"Why would you care?"

"Because I want to help."

"Sure, that's what they all say. The people I once thought were my friends said they wanted to help me duel so they made me bet my cards. The same goes for my family. My own mother and even my older brother think I'm nothing but useless. Sure they never said it to my face but that doesn't mean I can't hear them talking behind my back." He choked out, crying harder into his hands.

"Is that why you wanted to get the numbers? So you wouldn't be useless?" Yuma said putting a hand on his shoulder. Flip nodded his head 'yes'.

"I wanted people to respect me and not take me for granted."

"Well, I respect you." Yuma said.

"No you don't. You're only saying that so I'll leave you alone, right?" Flip said looking up to him.

"No, I'm serious. You're a really good duelist and I somehow feel that we have a connection. People would always say I was never good at anything, but I never listened to them and tried to push harder, and get better." Yuma said with a smile.

"You really mean that?" Flip asked.

"Of course. I wouldn't lie about something like that." Flip hugged Yuma.

"That's the nicest thing anyone's ever told me." He said starting to cry out of happiness this time.

"Um, that's good." Yuma said feeling uncomfortable. Flip let go and held out a hand to Yuma.

"I'm turning over a new leaf. No more trying to scam people out of things." He said cheerfully.

"That's great." Yuma said getting up. He looked over at Astral who had been watching. Flip walked over to her and kneeled on the ground in front of her with his hands folded.

"Please forgive me Astral! I'm sorry for trying to take your cards." He begged. She looked over to Yuma who was nodding his head.

"Alright, I forgive you and I apologize for hitting you." She said bowing slightly to him. He got off the ground with look a relief.

"Oh, Yuma, you can also keep that Baby Tiragon card. Think of it as a true sign of our friendship." Flip said.

"Really?!" He said pulling the card out. "Cool I got my first Xyz's monster, you see this Kotori!?" He shouted waving the card around. Astral stood away from Yuma so she wouldn't get in the way of his celebration.

'I see. Sometimes a human's past can affect their future. These things can lead to bad intentions and the strive to make themselves better. I must remember this for the future if we meet anyone else like Flip.' She thought as she gathered with the rest of the group.

* * *

**A/N So, quick question. Anyone read the Zexal manga? Well I had the luck of reading the first 3 books. And If no one guessed, this chapter is based off the book and the show and I think it worked out pretty well. Okay, it's getting late and I have school tomorrow so hopefully I have another chapter out some time this weekend. Good night and Yami Gir signing off! **


	12. The Shy Hero

**A/N Hello. Sooo, I haven't updated in about a month. Sorry about that school has taken more out of me than I thought. I'll try not to do that again but no promises. So here's the next chapter.**

* * *

Astral sat in front of the T.V. under Yuma's hammock. Above her he slept, snoring softly from time to time. The volume was low because if she were to turn it up higher, he would wake up and yell at her because it might wake someone else up.

"Galaxy Queen, I have traveled through countless dimensions to try and stop you!" The person on the T.V. shouted.

"HAHAHA! You actually believe you can stop me? Think again, Sparrow!" The queen laughed pointing her scepter at Sparrow. The T.V. clicked off.

"Man that lady's creepy." Yuma groaned as he turned over in his hammock. Astral sighed, got off the floor and floated to his side.

"Yuma, I need to learn more about this Sparrow character." She said.

"Can't you do it tomorrow? I'm trying to sleep here." He complained.

"But he said he came from a different dimension. It's possible that he might know more about me and my memories."

"Astral, it's just a T.V. show."

"So?"

"Gah! I don't have time for this. Here, I'll turn it back on. Happy? I'll see you when it's morning." He huffed falling back asleep.

'This Sparrow might be helpful for my mission.' She thought as she settled back in front of the T.V.

* * *

The school bell rang and Yuma ran out of the room.

"Finally finished!" He said stretching his arms. "Time for some more dueling and maybe a snack."

"No, we're going home right now." Astral instructed as she walked past the shrimp-haired boy.

"What? But why?" He whined.

"Because a new episode of _The Sparrow_ will be on soon and I don't want to miss it."

"Hey, Yuma." Kotori called walking up to him. Tetsuo and Flip were following her. "Guess what? The Sparrow is in town!" She said, giddy with excitement. Astral walked over to Kotori, becoming just as excited as her friend.

"Really?! The Sparrow! But I thought he was in a different galaxy?" She questioned. Kotori gave her a confused expression but quickly smiled.

"Wow, you're quite a fan. Well, the producers of the show are set up on the north side of town by the docks and we wanted to know if you two would like to come." Tetsuo said.

"But I was planning on dueling." Yuma whined.

"Not anymore. Take us to the docks." Astral commanded grabbing hold of Yuma and following the rest of the group.

They arrived at the docks to find a large crowd of girls in front of the studio.

"Sparrow, we love you!" Many were screaming. Yuma and his friend stood at the back of the crowd.

"Hey, Yuma, doesn't it look like we're the only guys here?" Tetsuo commented looking at the crowd.

"That's because we probably are." He responded.

"Hey, quit complaining, you two, and help look for a way into the building." Kotori said trying to move closer to the building. Flip appeared from behind some shipping crates and motioned for them to follow.

"Look, I found the back entrance." He said pointing to a lot being guarded by a security personnel.

"Okay, that may be a way in, but how do we get past the guard?" Astral said crouching behind a box.

"That's simple. I'll pretend to be a big producer and they'll let us pass." Flip said throwing on a trench coat and sunglasses. Astral slapped and open to her face, along with everyone else.

"This does not bode well." She sighed.

"It will work! I saw it done on reality T.V. once." He said walking off.

"Hey, how's it going? I was just getting some lunch and I noticed I left my key card in my room, so don't mind me." Flip said swaggering past the guard.

"Hey, who the hell do you think ya are kid!?" The guard said grabbing his collar and lifting him off the ground. While he was distracted, the rest of the group ran past and entered the building.

"Hey what do ya know, it worked." Yuma said shutting the door. Everyone started walking into the building with Kotori at the front.

"I can't believe it! I'm in the same building as the Sparrow! Maybe we'll find his dressing room or maybe the man himself!" She said excitedly as they continued walking. They came upon a closed door with a lit sign that said 'Set' above it.

"I think we found what we were looking for." Kotori said opening the door quietly. Inside the room there were props and settings all over the place.

"Take that you fiend! There's no way you can beat me, the Sparrow." The Sparrow said whipping some sort of energy whip around. Astral looked at the room in wonder but quickly noticed something behind Yuma.

"Yuma look out! One of the Dark Emperor's minions is behind you." She exclaimed quietly, so they wouldn't be noticed.

"Huh, minion? That's just a stage prop. Hey, Tetsuo, get a picture of me and this thing." He said leaning against it, the prop pushing a lever behind it.

"What the?" He said as he and the prop went flying into the air. "Someone help!" He said holding onto the prop for dear life. He reached out to grab something, or someone. Astral, who had been standing next to him, felt her arm being grabbed.

"Yuma, you fool! Let go of me!" She yelled, pulling at his hand.

"I can't, you'll fall!" He yelled back only to feel her weight disappear. He looked down at her to find that she was holding on to the leg of the prop, though she seemed to be barely doing so.

"I can fly, remember?" She said looking up at him. Before he could answer, the prop was pulled at a sharp angle causing him to almost lose his grip.

"Someone! Make this crazy thing stop!" He shouted. Unbeknownst to him his cards fell out of his bag and dropped in front of a certain caped hero.

"You kids can't be here! This is for authorized personnel only!" A guard yelled making the group cower.

"Come on, you're coming with us so we can call your parents." He said leading them away. Yuma and Astral were about to leave when a hand clamped on each of their shoulders.

"Follow me, I think I have something of yours." Someone whispered, pulling out a whip and grappling onto the metal beam above.

* * *

"Wow! The Sparrow! The actual superhero." Yuma said standing in the Sparrows' dressing room.

"Um, so why did you bring us here?" He questioned. Sparrow walked up to a table in the center of the room, picked something up, and walked back.

"I think these might be yours." He said holding the card container in front of him. Yuma grabbed his bag and started rummaging through it.

"Hehe, looks like my cards must have fallen out during our little joy ride." Yuma laughed nervously as he took his cards back.

"They are the very heart and being of a duelist and you just drop them." Astral said crossing her arms. Yuma shot her a look and turned back to the hero.

"Well, thank you." He said bowing his head slightly.

"It was no problem. I'm just helping a fellow duelist, along with meeting a very pretty girl." The Sparrow said kneeling and stretching his hand palm up toward Astral. Astral, confused by his actions put her hand in his and was slightly shocked when he kissed the back of it.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, too." She said, unsure of the situation. He let go and she took her hand back. Yuma finally decided he should pick up the conversation with him once more. "So you're a duelist. Cool maybe we could duel if you have some free time."

"But, Yuma, I need to know if he knows anything about me." Astral said.

"I told you already, he won't know anything."

"That doesn't mean I can't ask." She said turning towards the person in question, though he seemed more focused on what was in front of him.

"Ah a spider! Get it away, get it away!" Sparrow screeched and ran under a table. Yuma and Astral stared at him in shock. Wasn't this boy supposed to be a brave superhero?

"Here." Yuma said gently cupping the spider in his hands and going to the window.

"Alright, its gone. You can stop hiding now." He teased, releasing the spider outside.

"Thank you, I thought I was a goner." Sparrow said getting up.

"Hahahaha, you're afraid of little spider? Some hero you are!" Yuma laughed. Astral swatted him on the back of the head.

"Don't do that. It's not nice." She scolded. He rubbed the back of his head.

"Sorry 'bout that, Sparrow." Yuma apologized. The Sparrow simply shook his head and removed his mask.

"You can stop calling me the Sparrow, now that you've seen who I truly am." He said running his hand through his hair and smoothing it down. "You can just call me Nelson." He said sadly.

Astral looked at the boy questioningly. 'What is a Nelson?'

"Wait, so everything was just and act?" Yuma questioned. Nelson shook his head in response.

"I have to keep up the act around everyone so they won't know who the Sparrow really is."

"And who is he?" Astral asked.

"He is a shy middle schooler living in a fantasy world, someone who doesn't even have enough courage to talk to girls." Nelson said averting his gaze from Astral.

"You sure seemed fine talking to her a minute ago." Yuma said jutting a finger at her.

"That's because you didn't know what I was like. All you saw was The Sparrow." Nelson said, his face turning red.

"Well you shouldn't be so afraid of how people look at you. I mean you maybe a scaredy cat but that doesn't mean your only that. Try sticking up for yourself and people will look past those things." Yuma said pumping a fist in the air.

"Wow, you're the first person to ever tell me I can be more than the Sparrow. I want to properly greet you." He said holding out his hand. "My name is Nelson Andrews and it is very nice to meet you."

"I'm Yuma Tsukumo and this is Astral um, Takokujin ." He said taking his hand and shaking it.

"It's nice, what you said about me. I hope to be like that one day and make some friends." Nelson said sadly. Yuma put a hand on his shoulder and he looked up.

"Hey, I'll be your friend." He said with a smile.

"You really mean that?"

"Of course. That means we can duel each other, too." Yuma winked.

"Great, this makes me so happy!" Nelson said. "And you know what, Yuma? I think we should duel right now." The door to the room opened up.

"Nelson, what do you think you're doing?" A lady yelled from the doorway.

"Mother," He said trying to explain.

"You know no one but authorized personnel are allow back here." Mrs. Andrews said, scowling.

"But mother," He tried again but still wasn't heard.

"You two leave now, before I have you escorted out by the authorities and if you dare talk about what you have seen you'll never be allowed in this town again!" She said pushing Yuma and Astral out the door.

"Hey, what about our duel, Nelson?" Yuma looked back.

"Forget about it. No one cares about me and you shouldn't have to, either. Nelson Andrews doesn't matter, only the image of The Sparrow." He said as the door slid shut. Astral looked at the closed door with a sad expression.

* * *

"Wow, it's really sad, how he's treated." Yuma said looking at the water below. He turned around and leaned against the railing of the bridge. "I mean, he has to keep his entire life a secret." Astral nodded in response but said nothing.

"Hey you alright? You haven't said anything since we left the set. She shook her head but continued to look at the water.

"Come on, at least say something." Yuma said getting irritated. She let out a sigh and looked at him.

"Nothing's wrong, I just can't get his last words to us out of my head." She said laying her head on her arms.

"I know what you mean. He's living in a lie and can't get out." Yuma stated. Astral nodded her head in agreement.

"I also feel like we have some sort of connection."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean we both are unsure about this world and can't show our true selves." She said frowning. To her surprise, Yuma pulled her into a hug.

"I know you can't see what path you are supposed to walk in this world but I hope you know I'm willing to help you find it. I also want to do the same for Nelson." He said in a low tone so she could barely hear. She looked at him and he quickly let go.

"Come on, supper will be done soon." He said as he turned quickly, trying to hide a blush that now tinted his cheeks. He started walking but Astral stayed where she was.

"Thank you, Yuma, for the reassurance." She said with a soft smile as she walked to catch up with him.

* * *

"I really wish Yuma could have stayed around." Nelson said as he walked out of his room and onto the terrace. "I would have been nice to get to know him better. And Astral too." He said feeling his face heat up. He looked at the night sky and sighed.

"If only I could be myself for once and not have to care about masquerading as The Sparrow." He said walking along the edge of the patio space. Something that appeared to be glowing caught his eye.

"What's this?" He said picking it up. "A Duel Monsters card?" He questioned turning it over. A voice rang out in his head.

"That's right, my son. You have found your mother. Now go out and protect the streets in the name of the Galaxy Queen and in the name of The Sparrow!" The voice boomed as the number 83 appeared on his hand.

"I will serve my queen." He said looking down at the card.

* * *

**A/N Though it's a late chapter I have to say this was one of my favorites to write. I got to play around with the plot and mess with characters. Hopefully you, the reader liked it. I'll try to put the next chapter up some time next week. Good bye, Yami Gir signing off!**


	13. Is That Your MOM!

**A/N Hello there! Finally the next chapter is up. No lie, I've had this done for about a week but it wasn't until 3 hours ago that I finally had it edited. God I wish I could drive! That would solve about half of the problems I have. Well I'll stop complaining and let you read. :)**

* * *

"Breaking News! As of last night there have been several strange reports of run-ins with a masked criminal. Eye witness accounts have said their assailant to have been none other than The Sparrow from the hit T.V. series. The producers have declined a personal interview on the matter but have spoken out against the accusations."

"Our Sparrow would do nothing like this. He stands only for what is good and right." Said Head Producer Shara Andrews.

* * *

"Wow I can't believe the rumors that are going around about the Sparrow." Kotori said shutting her computer. Yuma, who was sitting next to her nodded.

"Yeah I know what you mean." He said. 'It doesn't sound like something Nelson would do at all.' He finished in his head.

_/I have a feeling something is going on./_ A voice responded.

"GAAHH!" Yuma freaked out and fell out of his chair.

_/Sorry. I should have warned you./_ Astral apologized, helping him up.

"It's fine." He said not caring about their mind link.

"What was that all about, Yuma?" Kotori asked looking slightly amused.

"Ah, n-nothing." He said waving his hand. She shrugged her shoulders and put her school bag on the table.

"Well, I was thinking that we should go out and try to find this Sparrow impersonator so we can clear the Sparrow's name!" She said standing up with a fist in the air.

"I agree with Kotori. We should try and figure out who did this. Or see if something is wrong with Nelson." Astral whispered into his ear.

"Fine, I'll go." Yuma said crossing his arms. "But there better be snacks."

* * *

Yuma, Astral, and Kotori walked along the sidewalk of a quiet street holding flashlights to guide their way.

"Are you sure we'll even find him? I mean, this city's huge." Yuma said waving his flashlight around.

"Well, do you have any other ideas?" Kotori huffed, not turning to look at him.

"Well, no."

"Alright, then. We have to start somewhere and this is pretty close to the set." She said shining her light down an alleyway.

"But what does that have to do with anything?" He complained.

"If this person really is the Sparrow or a good impersonator, then he would probably stay close to the place they are found the most." She explained.

"Your logic is sound." Astral commented from under her hood. The night was cold and Yuma was nice enough to loan her something to keep warm since she wasn't used to this kind of weather. Unfortunately, it was a little bit large on her, so it hung loosely around her petite frame.

"I still don't know why I agreed to this." He complained again. "You didn't even make any food, like you promised."

"Yuma, quiet." Kotori said stopping suddenly making him run into her.

"Listen." The group went silent as they listened for the slightest noise.

"HELP!" Someone screamed.

"I think this is the lead we need." Kotori said running towards the sound. "It wasn't to far from here, now hurry!" Yuma and Astral ran with her until they came upon a man lying on the sidewalk with his hands tied behind his back.

"Someone, anyone, help me!" A gangster-looking dude screamed.

"Calm down, I'll help you." Kotori said crouching and untying his hands.

"Hey thanks. Man, I didn't expect that a fictional character from a T.V. show would attack me." The guy said rubbing his wrists.

"Wait, someone from a T.V. show? Do you mean..."

"Yeah, that Sparrow guy. Man, he can really pack a punch."

"Which way did he go?!" Astral said frantically.

"Um, he went that way." The punk said pointing down the street.

"Yuma! We must catch him before he's too far gone." Astral said taking his hand and running.

"What?! Shouldn't we tell Kotori?" Yuma said running beside her.

"There's no time." She said taking a right. They ran for 5 more minutes until they hit a dead end.

"Damnit! All that running for nothing." Yuma gasped, trying to regain his breathe.

"But how did he get away?" Astral said looking at the wall before them. "No human could possibly scale a wall of such height." She concluded. Walking slowly up to the wall, she saw something move in her peripheral vision. Looking up she saw what looked like a person wearing a cape.

"Nelson?" She called causing the figure to move.

"Yuma, Astral, why did you follow me?" He said in a somber tone. Yuma made his way to Astral's side.

"We want to help you, Nelson. What you're doing is not right. You might need help with whatever's going on." Yuma called.

"No, I don't need any help. Now stop following me or the consequences will be harsh." He said walking out of their sight.

"What the hell was that?" Yuma commented scratching his head. Astral shook her head.

"I don't know, but something is seriously wrong. Come on." She said turning to leave.

"But you heard his warning." He said.

"Yes, but the consequence he might face will be far worse than what he promised us." She said stuffing her hands in her pockets and walking towards the docks.

* * *

The Sparrow walks into a dark room he has come to know as the main set. In the middle of a platform stage sits a simple chair that has his mask set on it. As he reaches for it the blinding show lights pop on in unison.

"Nelson, you need to stop with the Sparrow act." Yuma said walking out from behind the lights with Astral closely following.

"Yuma, I told you to stay away." He growled and put his mask in place.

"Nelson, you need help. Something is terribly wrong with you and if we don't stop you now everything you've worked for will be gone in a flash." Astral said, her tone serious.

"I see what's going on now. You're being controlled by the Evil Emperor Theriouse Maximus." Sparrow said pointing at them. "I didn't think my only friends would fall under his curse. Oh well. As my duty to the Galaxy Queen, I must take you down!" He shouted with hatred slowly showing on his face.

"Nelson there is no Galaxy Queen. She is just your mother in costume." Astral said walking past Yuma towards him.

"How dare you insult my queen!" He shouted pulling out his whip and lashing it at Astral. Before she could react it, struck her in the face and sent her flying back.

"ASTRAL!" Yuma screamed, quickly going to her side. He took her in his arms and she looked up at him before passing out.

"Sparrow that was completely uncalled for!" Yuma said, carefully laying Astral back on the ground.

"It was the only way. She was under the spell of Theriouse Maximus and she had to be stopped." Sparrow said clenching his fist.

"I don't care about some stupid fictional bad guy. What you did was unforgivable. So I challenge you to a duel." Yuma shouted pointing at Sparrow.

"I accept. I'll defeat you and rid this world of your kind." He said pulling out a duel disk.

"Duel Disk: Set! D-gazer: Set! Duel!"

'Astral, I promise I'll get Nelson back to normal.' Yuma thought looking at his opponent. The Emperor key started shining, causing him to shield his eyes from the light.

_/And I will help as well./_ Astral said appearing next to him.

"Astral, what are you doing here?" Yuma asked in confusion. She gave an irritated sigh and turned to look at him.

_/The key./_ She answered hoping that was enough of an explanation. Yuma slapped his face.

"Oh right, that. I forgot." Yuma said with a half hearted laugh.

_/Well now that your question is out of the way, we can focus on the matter at hand./_ She said glaring at Sparrow.

"Right." Yuma said with a serious expression. "What do you think's wrong with him?" He asked.

_/I have a theory./_ She said but didn't explain any further.

"Since you're done talking to yourself I'll go first." Sparrow said drawing his card.

_/The duel is starting, I suggest you pay attention to the game rather than let your emotions get in the way./_ Astral said earning a glare from Yuma.

"First I summon Beast Warrior Puma in attack mode. Next I place one card face down and end my turn." Sparrow said as a humanoid panther appeared on the field.

_/Oh, I've seen him before. He is a skilled swordsman and acrobat. You should be cautious of him./_ Astral instructed.

"Whatever. I play Gogogo Golem in attack mode. Now Gogogo Golem, attack Puma!" Yuma commanded sending his monster into battle.

"Heh, you fell for it. Trap card: activate! Since I have 3 Triple Star Trions in my hand, that allows me you use the trap Trion Barrier which changes your Golem to defense mode. It also allows me to summon my 3 Trions to the field." Sparrow said placing the 3 cards on his disk.

"Tch, fine. I place one card face down and end my turn." Yuma said.

"Good, now I tribute 2 of my Triple Star Trions." Sparrow said removing the cards and putting them in his graveyard.

"Um, Astral."

_/What./_

"What's a tribute summon?" Astral gave an irritated sigh.

_/A tribute summon is when you sacrifice a low level monster to summon a monster of a higher level./_ She stated in a matter-of-fact way.

_/You tribute one monster for a monster of either level 5 or 6 and you tribute two monsters for anything higher than that./_

"Wait he's going to summon something with a high level!?" Yuma said fearful of the possibilities.

_/It would appear so./_ She said.

"Now Esper Star Sparrow make your presence known!" Sparrow called with his arms raised in the air. A black figure appeared next to Puma.

"Wow, it looks just like Sparrow!" Yuma pointed out. Astral nodded in agreement.

_/And just like any hero, his power is unmatched./_ She said with a smirk. It was true, not only was Esper Star Sparrow a level 10 monster he also had 3000 attack points. She couldn't help but wonder if the producers had helped in the making of the card.

"Next, I use my last Trion's special ability, which revives the two Trions in my graveyard. Go, Lavish Return!" Sparrow shouted as his two Triple Star Trions returned to the field. "Next, I activate the spell Space Rations from my hand. I can use this card when Esper Star Sparrow is on my field and it allows me to draw two cards from my deck. Now I overlay my 3 Triple Star Trions. Xyz's summon! Kneel before the all-powerful ruler, #83 Galaxy Queen!" Sparrow called. A black hole appeared behind him, and exploded. The Galaxy Queen came to be, behind the Sparrow. She was clad dark purple dress, a galaxy on the front of it.

"You just summoned your mom." Yuma said in disbelief. Astral facepalmed.

_/Now is not the time for your stupid jokes./_ She said looking through her fingers. He chuckled at his joke.

"You know, at first I was being serious." He said trying to hold back a laugh.

_/Yuma./_

"Right, right, the duel and the number. Geesh, I said it wasn't on purpose." He said looking at Astral. She turned her head so he could see her face.

"Fine, ignore me."

"Still talking to yourself, Yuma? Well, pay more attention to the duel and maybe I'll go easy on you." Sparrow taunted. Yuma stopped his mouth and turn to Sparrow.

"About time you listened, now I equip my Queen with the continuous spell Theriouse Maximus' Curse. While under its spell, Galaxy Queen can not be destroyed. I use an overlay unit so now all my monsters are indestructible. It also means I can give you damage if I destroy a defense monster." Sparrow said pointing at him.

"This isn't good." Yuma said.

_/Indeed, if Gogogo Golem is destroyed this will not end well./_ Astral said in a grim tone.

"Puma: attack Gogogo Golem with Dark Slash." Sparrow commanded. The beast pulled out his sword and leaped towards Yuma's monster.

"Once per turn, my Golem can't be destroyed if it's in defense mode."

"Even if its not destroyed you still take damage. I attack again using Esper Star Sparrow." Sparrow said pointing at his second monster. "Go Mega Punch Surprise!" Esper Star ran up and jumped in front if the Golem, punching it in what would be the face. Dust blew around from the impact and Yuma flew backwards along with Astral.

"I place on card face down and end my turn." Sparrow said putting a card down. Yuma slowly got back on his feet as his life points dropped to 2400.

"Damn, he not only has number on his field but also a level 10 monster. How am I going to get out of this?" He said to himself.

_/He is indeed powerful, but this power is coming for the number possessing him./_ Astral said pointing at Galaxy Queen.

"Are you saying the pressure his mom was giving him to be the Sparrow is causing all this?" He asked.

_/Yes, the card is using his stress to its advantage./_ She nodded.

"Then I have an idea." He said with a smirk.

* * *

**A/N First a complaint. Do any of you know how long Sparrows second turn is? It's 10 minutes long! 10 fricking minutes! Seriously why? It was a pain in the ass to write and it was annoying! GAAHH! Okay complaint over now unto something different. Oh English Dub, you make stupid jokes and you blur out Astral crotch but you made one of the best YuGiOh English Dub jokes out there. 'You just summoned your mom.' They saw the opportunity and took it. Ahhh, America. Alright that's enough from me. So what's Yuma's plan, who hasn't seen this episode and doesn't know? Find out in the next chapter. Yami Gir signing off!**


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